Emergent
by AnnLiberty
Summary: Emergent follows Tris as she moves from top-ranked initiate through leadership training. After Eric revealed Jeanine's plans and took her down, Chicago is free to move forward. How will things change between the factions? Will Fourtris stay together, or will Tris' leadership role drive a wedge between them? Rated T for adult themes and occasional cursing.
1. Chapter 1: Cracks in the Foundation

**Welcome! Emergent is a story that follows Tris as she moves from top-ranked initiate through leadership training. After Eric revealed Jeanine's plans and took her down, Chicago was free to move forward. How will things change? Will Fourtris stay together, or will her leadership role drive a wedge between them? Of course I do not own the Divergent universe. Enjoy!**

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xxxx

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"You don't get it."

I try not to roll my eyes, and fail, as I watch my boyfriend pace back and forth in his small apartment.

"No, Tobias, you don't get it," I reply, my voice sharp with frustration. "You make the aptitude test out to be some big, all-knowing, life-determining thing that you missed out on, but it's not."

"It is, Tris, it's a right of passage and a guide I never got!"

"No, it's just a tool."

"How am I supposed to be confident in my place here? Why would I accept a leadership role when I don't even know if I'm truly Dauntless? I am the only adult member of any faction in this city who never got a real aptitude test result. I don't know who I am!"

I sigh deeply before replying. "Tobias," I try to keep my voice calm and even, as if soothing a scared child, "I took the aptitude test. It told me that I belonged in three places. I'm not fully Dauntless. Do I not belong here? No. I belong here because I chose Dauntless, and I worked hard to pass initiation. I took on the Dauntless way of life and I proved myself. Divergents all over the city have to pick one of their aptitudes and forsake the others. People join factions they don't have an aptitude for, and they make it work. The test is a tool. It helps you decide, but it doesn't dictate who you have to be."

"Still," Tobias grumbles, "it's another thing he took from me."

He. Marcus. He stole so much from his son. With his scaring words, violent beatings, and cruel punishments he stole Tobias' self-worth, his confidence, his childhood. I slide off the stool where I had been perched and cross to where Tobias stands with his head down and shoulders slumped. Wrapping my arms around him, I hold him close for a moment.

"I'll talk to Tori," I finally reply. "She administers the tests. Maybe she can find a way to give you that. It won't change anything, but at least you'll know."

Tobias nods and plants a soft kiss on my forehead.

.

xxxxx

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When our lunch breaks end, we go our separate ways. Tobias goes back to the control room for the rest of his surveillance shift. He is on days this week, a schedule that allows us to spend evenings and occasional lunch breaks together. Next week he will work second shift, and the week after that he'll have the overnights before coming back around to the day shift. It's a strain on our relationship, but we find ways to squeeze in some time together.

I pass through the leadership lobby and press my palm into the scanner that opens the hall to the private offices. As the top initiate in my class, I was offered a role in Dauntless leadership. This first half of the six-month long leadership training program has made initiation look like summer camp. Every day I spend early mornings training with Eric, mid-mornings in meetings, and afternoons learning the different parts of Dauntless. If I'm lucky I get a chance to have dinner in the cafeteria with Tobias or my friends, but more often I work through dinner and have to make do with the snacks I stash in my desk and apartment.

As a leader-in-training, I have a two-bedroom apartment all to myself in the leaders' wing of the compound. Other Dauntless members have studio apartments, like Tobias, or two bedrooms with a roommate, like Zeke and Uriah. Although Tobias discouraged me from joining leadership, he was impressed with my larger apartment, and has been dropping hints that he wouldn't mind moving in with me at some point. But I've resisted. I've never had my own space before, and I'm loving the chance to spread my wings and control my own environment.

The apartment came with the standard black leather sofa and chairs, and barstools at the kitchen island. The two bedrooms were set up with basic mattress sets on metal frames and a chest of drawers in each room. The walls and tiles were white, and the carpet was a bland beige. The two things that stood out in the basic apartment were the gleaming black granite countertops with their golden flecks, and the wall of windows overlooking the city. I moved in with a toothbrush, some shampoo, and a duffle bag of clothing that I acquired during initiation. Everything I owned filled one dresser drawer.

Max gave me a whole day off to move, so after the five minutes it took to carry in my bag of clothes, I had a whole day free to shop for the things I needed in my new home. The kitchen came equipped with a few pots and pans, basic white dishware, stainless flatware, and some clear glassware. In my first shopping trip, I picked up basics like dish washing soap and kitchen towels. In a move that was decidedly un-Abnegation, I splurged on high-thread count bedsheets, a down comforter, and the fluffiest bath towels Dauntless stores had to offer.

On my next day off, I spent some points on paint and began to bring color and life into my sterile apartment. I chose a warm beige for the living room and kitchen, sage green for the bathroom, and a soft pearl-ivory for my bedroom, with one accent wall in a deeper shade of green. I bought a deep berry-red blanket for the sofa, and some artwork for the living room walls.

As I proved myself and progressed through leadership training, I allowed myself to relax and feel more at home in Dauntless. I put down roots by setting up my home, and expanded my wardrobe to fit my new life in leadership. Yoga pants and tees for training, suit separates for interfaction meetings – everything in rich Dauntless black.

On one of my days off, I visited Christina at the Dauntless clothing store that she manages. There I fell in love with a beautiful, but expensive, black leather jacket. Christina encouraged my to try it on, and the supple leather fit like it was made especially for me. I determined then and there that when I pass leadership training and earn my new leader bonus, the first thing I'm doing is going back to buy that jacket. Whenever training gets tough and I worry about how I'm going to get through it, I visit Chris at the store and, between my best friend's encouragement and a glimpse of the coveted jacket, I find the strength to keep going.

For me, the physical training is welcome. As my body has grown stronger, my Dauntless side has come to enjoy the confidence and strength that I feel after a good workout. Eric has me running, lifting weights, and occasionally sparring or working with weapons. He's still a tough teacher, but he treats me a lot better than he did when I was an initiate. I also enjoy the figuring and organizing parts of leadership. My Erudite side enjoys the mental puzzles, and I've found that I'm a natural at interfaction relations. The hardest part about leadership is making the tough calls and dealing with people's reactions when they didn't get what they want. I turned away from the Abnegation lifestyle, but my brain is still wired to think that way, and I hate letting people down and disappointing them.

People quickly realized that the Abnegation transfer is more accommodating than the other leaders, and there are those who try to take advantage of it. One member in particular, a self-centered tart named Roxi, is always coming into my office unannounced and demanding that I move her off guarding the wall and into a more comfortable job within the Dauntless compound. After her first visit, I pulled up her file and looked it over. Roxi just barely passed initiation five years ago. Guarding the fence had been the only thing available to her, and her annual evaluations since then show her to be a mediocre worker at best. So I denied her request, and Roxi ramped up her efforts. She whined, and she even filed a grievance against her supervisor that was disproved by surveillance footage. Now she's in my office throwing a toddler-style tantrum, complete with stamping her feet. It would be funny if it wasn't happening in my office. In the middle of Roxi's high-pitched rant, I storm out. "Remove that woman from my office," I growl at Kyle, the receptionist, "and don't let her in without an appointment again."

Slamming the door as I leave the leadership wing, I stomp down to the pit and make my way to the store. Christina finds me in the back, seething and staring at the leather jacket. She cautiously places a hand on my shoulder and asks, "Are you okay?"

"Roxi," is all I can say.

"Ugh, I hate that chick," Christina replies, throwing her arms around me in a fierce hug.

I pat Christina in reply, but my tense muscles don't relax into the hug.

"I'm going to hit the gym," I say.

"Good idea," Christina replies. "Do you want me to call Four?"

I'm surprised that in all my frustration and anger with Roxi it never crossed my mind to talk to Tobias about the situation.

I shake off the suggestion, "I can do this," I tell my friend, willing myself to believe it. "I'm a leader. I don't need to go crying to my boyfriend every time I don't like some part of my job."

"I can do this," I repeat, trying to convince myself as much as Christina.

"You can do this," Christina confirms.

Head held high, I leave the store and head to the training room.

After thirty minutes punching and kicking the heavy bag, I feel better mentally, but worse physically. I'm exhausted, and my knuckles are bruised and bloody because I didn't take the time to wrap them before I attacked the bag. When the pain in my hands breaks through my consciousness, I know that Tobias will scold me for this, too. I grab my water bottle and throw it at the wall.

"Damn it!" I yell.

A dark chuckle sounds behind me. Eric.

"You would think that beating the bag until you're exhausted would calm you down, Stiff. What's bothering you so much?"

"Roxi," I spit out, "and I was starting to feel better until I realized I didn't wrap my hands." I hold my hands up to show him.

Eric's eyes go wide, and one eyebrow arches as he hurries over to get a closer look at my mangled hands.

"Stiff," he says softly, "they look like hamburger. Let's get you cleaned up."

Holding both of my hands in one of his, Eric puts his other hand on my lower back and leads me to the sink along the far wall. He turns on the water and waits for it to reach a comfortable temperature before gently guiding my hands into the flow. I hiss at the sting as the water makes contact with my bruised and bleeding knuckles.

"What did Roxi do this time?" he asks. "Did she offer to sleep with you to get moved off the wall? Maybe threaten to tell dear old Four that you were cheating if you didn't give her what she wanted?"

"No," I chuckle in spite of the stinging in my hands. "Did she do that to you?"

"Once," Eric replies with a grim smile. "Not the cheating thing, she threatened Max with that one. Have you read her disciplinary file? It's pretty wild."

"Disciplinary file?" I ask. "I looked at her initiation file and my performance evaluations, but I didn't know about a disciplinary file."

"Let's go back to the office," Eric replies, still using his gentle voice. "I'll show you how to access disciplinary files and we'll look at some of the best ones. Reading about the Pedrad brothers' escapades will put a smile back on your face."

Eric is right. The stupid pranks that Dauntless dependents and members pull have me laughing in no time. My favorite is the incident when Zeke, Uriah, and a couple of their friends broke into the lower levels building and moved the desks in every classroom. Some were facing backward, some arranged in circles, and some were turned upside down. They changed the clocks throughout the building as well, and each classroom read a different time. Nothing was damaged or stolen, but the Erudite teachers did not appreciate the joke. Security cameras in the school caught the culprits, but since they were dependents at the time, they faced punishment only within Dauntless. The charges of Breaking and Entering and Public Mayhem had not carried over to their adult records.

Eric avoids Roxi's file, but with his information on accessing disciplinary files I can look at it later. At 6:00 Eric convinces me to quit for the day and walks me to the cafeteria, offering to help me carry my tray since my hands are tender and bandaged. He walks me through the line, adding food to my tray as I point it out, then sets my things at an empty seat by Christina, wishing us a nice evening before taking his tray to a table where some of his friends are eating.

"He is _so_ not who I thought he was during initiation," Christina muses.

"I know," I reply. "He treats initiates like garbage, but once you're in he turns out to be a normal human being."

"Who is a normal human being?" asks Tobias as he walks up to the table.

Christina and I slide over to make room for him. "Eric," Christina replies.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Tobias grumbles.

"Well, he just helped your girl get dinner, and he was almost polite when he wished us a good night," Christina says.

"Why do you need help?" he asks me.

Ugh, here comes the lecture. I hold up my bandaged hands. "I had a rough meeting in the office and took out my frustration on a heavy bag without bothering to wrap my hands. It's no big deal."

Four's eyes darken. "That was careless," he scolds. "Why would Eric do that to you? Why didn't he make you wrap your hands?"

"Eric?" I ask in disbelief. "Eric did nothing. _**I**_ was in _**MY**_ office. _**I**_ had a difficult meeting. _**I**_ took myself to the gym to blow off some steam, and _**I**_ didn't think to wrap my hands. All Eric did was show up looking for me and make me stop so he could treat my knuckles. I am a _leader_ , Four, I'm going to have bad days, but I can handle them."

"Leader-in-training," Tobias corrects.

I have to get out of here. I jump up abruptly and walk out of the cafeteria and back to my apartment.

I can't believe him. Why does Tobias continue to act like I can't handle things on my own? I was first jumper, finished first in my initiate class, and was hand-picked for leadership. I have a home of my own and a balanced bank account. I have a good job, and although I don't love _every_ aspect of it, I'm damn good at what I do. Yet he continues to second-guess my decisions and go into "instructor Four" mode any time my opinion differs from his.

A tap on my apartment door pulls me out of my reverie. Tobias coming to apologize, no doubt. He'll say that he was just worried about me. He'll ask to see my hands, and he'll probably insist on changing the bandages before bed. I throw open the door. Christina stands on the other side, a paper bag in her hands. I feel my face fall in disappointment.

"Sorry," says Chris. "It's just me. I brought your food since you didn't get a chance before 'daddy' started scolding you."

"Thanks Chris," I say sadly. "That was really thoughtful of you. I forgot all about eating."

"Well, it's been a hell of an emotional roller coaster today," replies Christina. "I can't stay because Will is waiting for me. Will you be alright?"

"Of course," I reply. "I'm just going to stay in tonight, maybe watch a movie. Thanks to you I'll also have dinner to eat."

Christina looks like she wants to say something, but she gives me a sad smile instead and says goodnight. I go back inside and am just sitting down at the kitchen island with my dinner when there's another knock on the door. This will be Tobias for sure. I throw open the door. It's Eric.

"Everything okay?" he asks.

"Yup," I reply evasively, trying, and failing, to sound upbeat.

"I saw Candor bagging up your dinner. Did she bring it to you?" Eric asks.

"Yes," I reply, "I was just sitting down to eat."

"Okay. Good." Eric shifts his weight from one foot to the other and rubs the back of his neck. "I'll leave you to it."

As he turns down the hall toward his own apartment, he speaks again. "Hey Tris, if you need anything, you know, like help with your bandages or whatever, I'm just down the hall."

"Yeah," I reply quietly. He nods and walks toward his door.

"Hey Eric?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

He nods again and walks into his own apartment. I retreat into mine as well, and this time I bolt the door. I no longer want to deal with Tobias or his apologies tonight.


	2. Chapter 2: An Outside Force

**Looks like Tuesday or Wednesday will be my weekly update to this story. Thanks for all the reviews and follows!**

 **XOXO**  
 **Libby**

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I toss and turn all night. When I wake again just before dawn, I give up on sleep and shut off my alarm clock. I dress for my morning physical training and wander down to the cafeteria for a small coffee and some fruit. Grabbing a water bottle on the way out, I enter the training room.

The heavy bag directly across from the door still has blood stains from where I beat it bare-handed yesterday afternoon. It reminds me that I need to clean my hands and change the bandages, but I'm not sure how to do it alone. Christina is definitely not a morning person, and I refuse to talk to Tobias until he apologizes for how he treated my at dinner, so I guess I'll wait. If Eric offers again then he can do it, otherwise I'll make a quick stop at the infirmary before my office hours.

I start with a slow jog around the training room, enjoying the feeling of my muscles limbering as they warm up. I feel my spirits lift and my fatigue fade with the endorphins that running sends through my body. As I come around the next lap, I see Eric waiting for me.

"How far did you run?" He asks brusquely.

I just shrug in response, causing Eric to roll his eyes and sigh.

"At least thirty minutes?" he asks.

I nod.

"You're done then," he says. "Shower up and grab some food. We have a meeting this morning to meet the new Erudite representative."

I give Eric a mock salute on my way out the door, then drop in to the cafeteria for a breakfast sandwich to go. The infirmary doesn't look busy, so I stop and ask to have my bandages changed. They clean my hands and are able to replace my bandages with a few swipes of liquid wound sealer. Feeling more like myself, I go back to my apartment.

The ongoing drama with Erudite is a challenge for the leadership of all factions. Mostly through the efforts of Eric, who was working undercover pretending to help Jeanine Matthews hunt for divergents, it was discovered that Erudite was running a secret laboratory. There Jeanine and her cronies tested serums on the divergents she kidnapped, mostly from the factionless. The council and the other faction representatives demanded her removal and a trial in Candor. Jeanine and some of her top scientists were found guilty of human rights abuses and put to death. Underlings who had helped with the kidnapping and guarding prisoners became prisoners themselves.

Some Erudite were appalled when their leader's crimes were revealed, while others felt that her work was valuable and the unwilling sacrifices justified. I often wonder how Caleb feels about all of it, but I haven't seen my brother since I sneaked out to visit him during initiation.

The new representative, Dr. Reginald Marshall, was questioned under truth serum in front of the council and faction representatives before he was approved for leadership. Now he is holding a series of meetings with each faction's leaders to discuss their relationship with Erudite and what his faction needs to do to rebuild the trust of the rest of the city.

I thought about what I would wear to this occasion, my first big interfaction meeting. I wish that I had leadership training completed so I could display the tattoos of a full Dauntless leader. I know that as a trainee I will be required to sit quietly with the faction ambassadors, behind the full leaders. _Soon_ , I remind myself.

Still, my first important meeting requires a little something. Weeks ago, with Christina's help, I planned and bought an outfit that should make a great impression without being too over the top. I got a black pinstripe suit. The skirt is fitted at the top, and flares near the bottom, ending just above my knees. The matching jacket is fitted and has elbow-length sleeves. I got black fishnet stockings to go with it, and black heels with a touch of white contrast stitching that matches the pinstripes. With simple makeup, I feel both Dauntless and professional.

Head high, I walk into the meeting room right behind the group from Erudite. Uriah, training to be a faction Ambassador, spots me from across the room and makes a beeline toward me.

"Trissy," he says with the tact and subtlety of a dump truck, "you look _hot_!"

"Shut up, Uri," I growl, my cheeks burning. His outburst is not the first impression I want to make.

I glance around and see to my relief that the Dauntless leaders and visitors were all too occupied with introductions to notice my friend's comment. Except for Eric. He stands a little behind the others, his eyes locked on me. At that moment, Max pulls the young man forward as he motions for me to join them as well.

"Dr. Marshall," says Max, "this is Eric Coulter, the one who uncovered Ms. Matthew's scheme. And this is our leader-in-training, Tris Prior."

Dr. Marshall barely gives Eric a passing glance. Instead his eyes roam over me appreciatively. My Abnegation instincts kick in, and I'm instantly creeped out, but I fight the urge to recoil from his stare, and instead offer him a cool and professional greeting. He holds my handshake a bit too long.

"Shall we begin?" Max interjects to my relief.

I take my spot in the second row of Dauntless and notice that the room setup resembles a chess board. Two rows of chairs on either side of the room face each other with an empty "no man's land" between them. The front row on the Dauntless side includes Max as Dauntless' head leader, as well as Eric, Harrison, and Veronica, our other leaders. Across from them sit Erudite's five leaders, including Dr. Marshall. The second row of Dauntless contains the four faction ambassadors, Uriah, and me. I assume that the second row of Erudite hold similar positions.

Max moves toward the podium to begin the meeting when Dr. Marshall calls out, "Miss Prior." I look up quickly. "Please move to the front row with your fellow leaders. There is no reason for you to hide in the back with the ambassadors."

I look up at Max who shrugs and nods. I stand, and Uriah jumps up quickly to move my chair.

"My liege," says Uri with a mock bow.

I take my seat again, now next to Eric in the front row, and cross my ankles. Growing up in Abnegation I wore the standard uniform of shapeless grey pants under a long grey cloak. Although we never wore skirts or dresses, my mother had still drilled into me how to sit like a lady. Max begins a long-winded and boring speech about the history of cooperation between Dauntless and Erudite. As he shifts into a retelling of Jeanine's discovery and capture, I become absorbed in the story. Mindlessly I cross my tired and cramping legs at the knee, and my skirt rides up my thigh a little. As my eyes wander around the room, I notice Dr. Marshall openly leering at my fishnet-clad legs with undisguised appreciation. I quickly drop my foot to the floor and tug my skirt a little lower.

The meeting drones on until lunch is brought up by the Dauntless catering staff and everyone moves to the other meeting room to eat. I try to stay near Uriah, but as I exit the buffet line, Dr. Marshall calls me again.

"Miss Prior," he yells across the room, "come sit with us."

I don't want to, but I do as I'm told, joining Max, Eric, Dr. Marshall, and two of the Erudite leaders at the round table. As the last one to the table, I have to take the seat that is available which places me between Eric and Dr. Marshall.

Like many leaders, Dr. Marshall loves to hear himself talk. I pick at my lunch and try to look interested as he describes some of Erudite's great accomplishments. I nod and smile as he talks about his lab and the new advances his faction is making. Thankfully Max manages to shift the conversation to a new topic, and Dr. Marshall stops talking long enough to eat his lunch.

I'm listening to Max talk about weapons advancements when I feel a hand squeeze my knee. I glance up at the Erudite leader in shock. He raises an eyebrow at me and slides his hand further up my thigh. I squeeze my legs together and give him my best glare. He grins wolfishly in response.

My heart races. My cheeks flush pink. I can't breathe. Dr. Marshall freely pushes his hand up my leg, squeezing hard, and I panic. I don't know how to stop him without making a scene. Desperately, I dig my nails into Eric's knee under the table while trying to push away the Erudite leader with my other hand.

"Ow, Tris," Eric hisses at my as he turned to give me a glare. Seeing the terrified look on my face and the predatory grin on Dr. Marshall's, Eric quickly figures out the problem. He jumps to his feet and grabs the back of my chair. "Tris, we forgot that thing," he says in a voice of mock panic. "Come with me right away. We need to take care of it."

"Of course," I say, latching on to the lifeline Eric throws me.

"Excuse us," I call over my shoulder as Eric drags me out of the room.

As soon as the door closes behind us, I begin shaking, and a single tear streams down my cheek. Eric pulls me in to his broad chest and wraps my in his strong arms. His strength and woodsy masculine smell comfort me.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

I nod, but the shaking doesn't stop. "Just some bruising on my thigh," I say. "Eric, that man is a creep!"

"It's okay," he soothes. "You don't have to go in there. They're almost done. Go hide in your office and I'll call Four to come down here."

Eric's offer rekindles my desire for independence. "No!" I respond firmly, pushing away from Eric. He looks confused by my sudden outburst.

"I will not hide, and you will not call Four to come get me like I'm a helpless little girl who needs a babysitter!"

"Relax," Eric soothes, "I know you don't need a babysitter. I just thought you would like your boyfriend to comfort you."

"He's not exactly the comforting type," I mumble.

"How about this," Eric offers, "when you're ready we'll go back in there together. You'll stay with me or Uriah for as long as the Erudite are here, and when they're gone you can have the rest of the afternoon off as hazard pay."

I smile and nod.

As we re-enter the meeting room, Eric guides me to Uriah, who is sitting with the other ambassadors on the opposite side of the room from Dr. Marshall. Eric leans in and speaks quietly to Uriah, then leaves me with him while he rejoins the leaders and tries to distract Dr. Marshall until the Erudite can be encouraged to leave.

Once they're gone, the Dauntless ambassadors withdraw to their offices, and Max leads the leaders into his.

"I think that went really well," Max begins. "Dr. Marshall seemed especially fond of you, Tris. I think this is the beginning of a good working relationship."

The comment strikes me speechless. Obviously Max didn't see what was going on under the table.

"Are you kidding me!?" Eric yells. "That jerk comes in here, openly ogles and then sexually assaults a Dauntless woman, a leader, and you think it went well?!"

Suddenly everyone is clamoring to speak at once. Eric continues to rail against Dr. Marshall's behavior while Veronica, Harrison, and Max all express shock and outrage at Eric's accusation. I remain silent, my face flushed in anger and embarrassment.

"Tris," asks Max, "is this true?"

I nod mutely and pull up my skirt just enough to reveal the bottom of the bruises that Dr. Marshall's aggressive handling left on my leg.

"What? But, how? When?" Max stammers.

"Under the table at lunch," I answer in a small voice. "I tried to push back, but he was persistent, and I didn't want to cause a scene."

Max draws himself up tall and squares his broad shoulders. "This is unacceptable," he begins, "this is an insult to you as a leader and to our entire faction."

Harrison drops a strong hand on my shoulder. "You need to file a grievance with the council," he advises.

I shake my head. "No way. Relations with Erudite are shaky enough as it is. I'm not going to go whining to the council and destroy what they've just started rebuilding because one creep can't keep his hands to himself. Besides, you all know that the Abnegation would use the situation to rip down Dauntless' 'loose' women and our 'inappropriate' attire. Hell, Marcus doesn't like women in leadership at all. He would probably use this as evidence that women leaders are just distractions to the 'real' leaders. No, I'm not filing a complaint. But next time we have a meeting with Erudite, keep that creep away from me, and don't be too shocked if I throw political expediency out the window and break his damn hand."

Max and Harrison grin and thump me on the back. Veronica puts an arm around me and promises to break his other hand if I do. Eric remains silent and tense.

"I don't want you alone with him, either of you," Eric snaps at Veronica and me. "He's a jerk who thinks that his position entitles him to take what he wants from any woman that catches his eye. Don't give him that chance."

Fire burns in me, but I refrain from telling him that I can fight my own battles. Maybe Veronica or another woman wouldn't be able to. Establishing an unofficial policy that Dauntless women are not to be alone with Dr. Marshall will protect them down the line. Plus, I have to admit that I have no interest in putting myself into position to be harassed again.

The meeting breaks up and, as promised, I'm given the rest of the day off. I hurry back to my apartment and trade in my suit and heels for a pair of cotton shorts and one of Tobias' old tees. Looking at the bruises on my thigh, I know that it won't go well when Tobias sees my leg.


	3. Chapter 3: Party Triangle

When dinner time comes, I trade in my shorts for a pair of capris that cover the bruising on my thigh, and go down to the cafeteria. As soon as I walk in, I see Tobias standing by the table where Christina and Will are eating with Zeke and Uriah. He smiles sadly when he sees me.

Placing a hand gently on my arm, Tobias asks, "Tris, can we talk?"

I nod, my appetite disappearing as dread fills my middle. Tobias takes my hand and walks me out of the cafeteria and down the hall to the net room. The room is empty, and the only light comes from the fading sunlight and the rising moon looking down on us from the opening in the ceiling. Tobias pulls the net down and I climb on. He joins me, our weight in the net causing us to roll together.

"Tris, I'm really sorry. I've been difficult since you joined leadership. You're strong, brave, and beautiful, and having you join leadership has made my insecurities explode. I'm terrified of you having to face Marcus in meetings. I know that Eric isn't the bad guy we thought he was, but I'm still worried that he's going to hurt you. But mostly, I'm worried that you'll wake up one day and realize that you're too good for me. That you're a leader and I'm a nobody, just a guy hiding in the control room, afraid of his own father."

"Tobias," I breathe, "you finished first in your class and were invited to join leadership. You are every bit as good as I am. You're not just some grunt at the wall who barely passed initiation. You're handsome, strong, and brave. I love you."

"I love you, too" he mumbles, nuzzling into my hair.

"But Tobias, you have to stop treating me like a little girl. I appreciate how you care for me, but I don't need to be protected all the time. It feels like you don't trust me, like you don't believe in me. One of the things that drew me to you in the beginning was how you believed in my strength. And leadership training is tough. This job is going to be stressful. I need you to believe in me, not undermine me when I'm already battling through this."

"I know," he replies, "I'm so sorry. I'm just so afraid of something happening to you. I'm afraid of losing you."

"Belittling me and smothering me are far more likely to drive us apart than some imaginary bad guy I can't handle."

Tobias nods, and I hear him swallow hard. I wrap my arms around him and lay quietly for a few minutes, limbs entwined, beneath the rising moon.

Tobias breaks the silence. "Let's go get some dinner."

I nod. Hearts lighter, we grab hands and walk back through the compound to the cafeteria.

Most of our friends are gone by the time we get back, but Zeke is still there, laughing with some of his coworkers. When he sights us he quickly makes his way across the room.

"Hey Four-Tris," Zeke calls in a sing-song voice, "I'm having a little soiree this evening before we move to the second shift. Drinks, games, the usual. Be there!" He points at us, trying and failing to look stern, as he walks away backward. He nearly falls when he backs right into Peter, and Tobias and I have a good laugh at our friend's expense.

.

xxxx

.

A Pedrad party usually ends up in a game of Candor or Dauntless, so after dinner Tobias and I go back to our respective apartments to add additional layers of clothing. I'm just touching up my makeup when I hear the murmur of voices from the hallway followed by a tap on my door. I throw open the door to find Tobias standing there with yellow roses in his hand.

"What is that for?" I ask in surprise.

"Pretty flowers for my pretty girl," answers Tobias. "Can't a guy buy his favorite leader some roses?"

"Uh huh, what do you want?" I tease.

"Just a little kiss and a date for Zeke's crazy party."

"Hmmm," I respond, "maybe you should take your flowers to the leader next door. I'll bet Eric would be your date."

"Actually," Tobias laughs, "I already invited Eric. He was out here when I walked up and I asked him if he wanted to get sloshed and be stupid with us at Zeke's tonight. But the flowers and kisses are all for you, I promise."

I smile as I carry the flowers into my kitchen. "I'm glad you invited him. He's been decent to me in training, and I feel like a lot of people don't bother getting to know him since he was such a jerk while he was working for Jeanine. We all owe him a lot; the least we can do is be friendly."

"There's been bad blood between us since initiation," Tobias replies, "but you're right. He risked a lot taking her down. Plus, it's always fun having new victims at a Pedrad party."

.

xxxx

.

The music is blasting and the drinks are flowing when Tobias and I arrive at Zeke's apartment. Christina drags me into the living room where a group of people are dancing, and Tobias goes to the kitchen to get us drinks. I see Uriah and Marlene, Lynn, Shauna, and Will as I twirl to the music. After a few minutes, Tobias' arms wrap around my shoulders as he joins the dancing. I take my drink from his hand, a red plastic cup full of something fruity and sweet. It feels good after dancing in the hot, crowded room. I lose myself in the heavy bass of the music, the crowd of friends, and the familiar warmth of Tobias' arms.

After a while, Zeke turns down the music and announces that Candor or Dauntless is about to begin. "I know we've all played before, but I'm repeating the rules so no one can say, 'but I didn't know.' You're asked 'Candor or Dauntless?' and you get to choose. Candor honestly answers a question, and Dauntless has to complete a dare. If you can't or don't want to do what you're asked, you have to take off an article of clothing and take a penalty shot. On tap tonight we have some dangerously hot cinnamon moonshine that I bought from a guy I know who makes it in his apartment, so you probably don't want to say no, if you know what I mean."

Zeke smiles an evil grin and Uriah jumps in, "I wanna go first!"

Everyone rolls their eyes at Uri's enthusiasm, but no one objects.

"Christina," he calls, "Candor or Dauntless?"

"Dauntless," she replies.

A wicked grin spreads across Uriah's face. "I was hoping you would say that. I dare you to remove every accessory and hair thingy you're wearing and wash off your makeup. Let us see Christina au naturale."

Christina shrugs and begins removing her rings, earrings, and hair clip. She goes into the bathroom and removes her makeup. When she comes back, Uriah looks disappointed.

"I thought you would look different since you're so into makeup and stuff," he pout, "but you still look like you."

"Did you think I was hiding a troll under my makeup?" she laughs. "Lynn, Candor or Dauntless?"

"Dauntless, of course."

"I dare you to act out one of your fears without speaking. You have to keep going until one of us guesses it."

Lynn grins and steps into the center of the group. She gets down on the floor, spreads out her fingers, and makes scuttling movements with her hands.

"You're afraid of crabs!?" Zeke yells.

"Maybe she's afraid of catching crabs," Uriah laughs.

"All she has to do is stay away from you then," Zeke shoots back.

"I do not have crabs! I'm so telling mom on you."

Lynn rolls her eyes and walks her fingers up Uri's leg. She swats it with her other hand and it flops to the floor.

"Eww, spiders!" yells Marlene.

"Yup," says Lynn, returning to her seat.

"Group Candor question," calls Marlene, "how many of you had spiders in your fear landscape?"

Lynn, Shauna, and Eric all raise their hands. I wonder briefly if I can find a fake spider in one of the shops in the pit. It would be funny to leave it under the papers on Eric's desk and watch the intimidating leader turn into a squealing girl.

"My turn," says Lynn. "Tris, Candor or Dauntless?"

"Um, how about Candor."

"Pansycake!" Uriah shouts.

Four and Zeke pelt him with couch pillows.

"What is Four's real name?" Lynn asks.

My face falls. "That's not fair, it's not my secret to tell," I reply.

I peel off my yoga pants, revealing a pair of shorts, but also revealing the bruises on my thigh. Everyone immediately clamors to ask what happened, and I wish I had removed my sweatshirt instead. I shrug and try to play it cool.

"It's no big deal," I say, covering my legs with a couch pillow. Beside me, I can feel how tense Tobias has become.

"No big deal!?" he scolds. "Look at you!"

His eyes suddenly snap to Eric, and he notices that the young leader looks sad, but not at all surprised.

"Did you do this?" Four demands, suddenly standing.

"Four, no," I plead, "Eric had nothing to do with this. Sit down. I'll tell you about it later, but it's no big deal, I promise."

Four drops back into his seat, but continues glaring at Eric across the circle. The room remains tense as Four stares daggers at Eric and Zeke keeps a wary eye on them both.

I try to change the subject. "Will, Candor or Dauntless?"

"Yeah, um, how about a dare," Will chooses, playing along with my attempt to get the party back on track.

"The cinnamon challenge," I say with a triumphant gleam on my face.

"Cinnamon!" yells Zeke. "You never took your shot, Trissy."

I groan, "Why did I have to remind you?"

Zeke pours me a shot and turns to Will. "Are you doing the challenge, or do I pour you a shot, too?"

"Shot," says Will. "The cinnamon challenge is impossible. Even that poison should be easier to swallow."

Will shrugs off his hooded sweatshirt and takes the shot Zeke offers him. Will and I clink our shot glasses and toss back the liquid. The cinnamon burns all the way down, but it's pretty tasty. Will obviously disagrees as he sputters and coughs.

"Not bad," I say.

Zeke, Uriah and Will stare at me with their mouths hanging open.

"What?" I ask. "I like cinnamon."

They shake their heads, still staring at me like I grew a second nose or something.

"Shauna," Will calls. "Candor or Dauntless?"

"Dauntless"

Will looks around the circle and back at Shauna. "I dare you to sit on Four's lap and stay there until you can make him laugh. Real laugh, not some fake thing to get you off his lap."

Shauna glances at the barely contained fury on Four's face. "No flipping way," she says. "I don't care if that cinnamon crap is made of toilet water, I'd rather try it than get my head bit off by Four!"

She peels off her shirt and takes the shot offered by Zeke. After downing it, her face pulls into a tight grimace.

"Not bad?" she questions me. "Not bad? That was AWFUL!"

Shauna shudders and turns back to me.

"Just for that, I'm picking you," she says. "Candor or Dauntless?"

"In that mood? Candor."

Shauna stares at me as she considers her options. Catching sight of my leg, Shauna smirks.

"What happened to your leg?" she asks.

I sigh. "Fine. We had a meeting today with the new Erudite representative. He took a liking to me and had trouble taking no for an answer. During lunch he got handsy under the table."

"I hope you broke his hand," interjects Lynn, scowling.

"Not yet," I say, "but I already warned Max that's my next move. Eric helped get me out of there, and he and Uri kept me away from the creep until they left. We talked about it as a leadership team, and none of our female leaders or ambassadors will ever be alone with him."

"I can't believe you," barks Four, "we just had this whole big talk about how you can handle leadership and how no one is going to hurt you, and you neglected to tell me that someone already did! You lied to me! I knew this was a bad idea!"

"I handled it!" I shout back. "I got myself out of a bad situation without causing a scene, and we made a plan as a team to protect ourselves going forward."

"You handled it? You needed Eric and Uriah to rescue you and you say you handled it?"

"Four!" Eric interjects, "She kept a cool head and found a way to get out of a bad situation. Uriah and I did very little except support her in that."

"Shut up!" yells Four, jumping to his feet.

I grab my yoga pants and purse and march toward the door. Stepping into my shoes, I turn back toward Tobias.

"You know what, Four, this is why more women don't do something about it when they're sexually harassed. Some asshole came at me today, and you make me the villain. You think I can't handle leadership because I'm a woman, and I'm young. Well I have news for you. Having a dick doesn't automatically make you a good leader. That asshole from Erudite proved that this morning."

Tears burn my eyes, so I hurry to get away before they spill out. I run through the halls of Dauntless and straight back to my apartment. Safely behind my locked door, I finally let go and sob for the anger, humiliation, and shame of the day.


	4. Chapter 4: Fighting it Out

A distant beeping pierces my sleep and drags me toward wakefulness. When I open my eyes, I realize that I slept on my couch, and the first thing I see is the vase of yellow roses on my kitchen counter. They make me smile until I remember the scene at Zeke's party.

I slip off the couch and stretch my stiff limbs. Making my way into the bedroom, I shut off the alarm and slip into my workout clothes. Back in the kitchen, I grab a water bottle and head for the door. I hesitate before leaving my apartment, then go back for the flowers. I carry them to the garbage chute at the end of the hall and drop them in, vase and all. I don't know what future, if any, I have with Tobias, but right now I just don't need the reminder of our fight.

After grabbing a light breakfast, I go to the designated training room and begin warming up. A few minutes later, Eric walks in.

"Grab a bag," he calls to me, "and don't forget to tape your hands this time."

I do as I'm told. I attack the bag with a few rounds of punches and kicks. It feels really good to burn some of my pent-up frustration.

"Talk to me, Stiff," says Eric.

I stop and turn to face my trainer.

"Talk to you?" I repeat, confused.

"I didn't say to stop punching," he retorts. "Talk to me. Tell me what you're thinking about. You need to get it out."

"Get what out?" I grunt, playing dumb as I resume my attack on the bag.

"Don't act stupid with me," Eric growls, seeing right through me. "I was there last night. Between that Erudite prick and Number Boy, you had a rough day yesterday. Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Actually, yeah, I passed out on the couch."

"Good," he replies. "So how are you feeling this morning?"

I shrug before throwing my next punch. "I don't know."

"Let me try again," says Eric. "Are you and Four still together?"

"I don't know," I say.

Eric rolls his eyes. "Well do you want to be?" he asks.

"I don't know," I repeat.

"Stiff, you're driving me crazy," he says. "Let's play a little game. You keep attacking the bag and I'll ask you questions. You're not allowed to think about it, just say the first thing that comes to your mind. Okay?"

"Eric," I object, "I don't see how this will help anything."

"Nevertheless," he says, "humor me."

I shrug and resume my cycle of punches and kicks at the bag. _Jab, jab, cross. Jab, jab, kick. Jab, jab, cross. Jab, jab, kick._ The rhythm is soothing.

"What's your favorite color?" asks Eric.

"What?" I nearly stumble as my rhythm is disrupted by the unexpected question.

"Don't think, just answer. The first thing that comes to your mind. And keep hitting the bag," he reminds me.

I roll my eyes and throw another punch at the bag. "Green," I say.

"I'm surprised you didn't say grey, _Stiff_ ," Eric teases.

"Why," I tease back, "because of your pretty grey eyes?"

Eric bats his eyelashes and puts a hand over his heart. "Why Stiff, I didn't know you cared," he mocks.

"Don't flatter yourself," I reply.

"How are the bruises on your leg?" he asks.

"Better," I reply without messing up my rhythm, "already starting to fade."

"Good," says Eric.

"You have a brother in Erudite, right?" he resumes questioning.

"As far as I know," I say. "I haven't heard from him since before Jeanine was taken down. Faction before blood and all that."

"And your parents?" he presses. "Were Mr. and Mrs. Stiff Abnegation-born or transfers?"

"Transfers," I reply. "Mom was Dauntless and Dad was Erudite."

"So their kids reverted back to their origins. Can't imagine that went over well in Stiff-land."

"Is that a question?" I snap. "You read the papers. Erudite had a field day with our 'defection.' They accused my parents of all kinds of abuse and crap that never happened."

I take another swing at the bag, thankful for the outlet as we talk about Erudite's lies.

"So you didn't leave for the same reasons as Number Boy?" Eric questions.

I'm mid-kick, and Eric's question angers me, throwing me off so badly that I almost fall. He steps quickly to my side and I feel his big, calloused hands on my shoulders, steadying me. I spin abruptly to face the young leader, and his hands drop when he sees the look on my face.

"My parents never laid a hand on me or my brother," I spit. "I don't know what you know or think you know about Tob-Four, but his past is none of your business. My parents are truly selfless. All they do is live a simple life and pour themselves into making this city a better place for everyone else. They shouldn't be accused of crap just because their kids wanted a different life. Scores of dependents transfer every year and no one accuses their parents of abuse!"

My fists are balled up tight, and my face is flushed with rage. I turn abruptly from Eric and throw my entire body into a punch that sets the heavy bag rocking, then I march resolutely toward the exit.

"Stiff!" Eric calls after me, "where are you going?"

"Home for a shower," I yell, flipping my middle finger over my shoulder to emphasize my rage.

"Stiff," Eric pleads, "Tris, listen. I'm sorry. I was just trying to get you talking about your family and my curiosity got the best of me. I don't mean to accuse your parents of anything."

"And yet here we are," I spit back at him as I step out the door and slam it behind me.

.

xxxx

.

Even after a long shower, I'm not feeling any better about my life. I'm angry at Dr. Marshall for harassing me. I'm angry with Erudite for their lies. I'm angry with Eric for believing those lies. I'm angry with Tobias for treating my like a helpless child, and for undermining me in front of our friends.

I miss the anonymity of Abnegation. It seems that my life was so much easier when no one was watching me. From the moment that I became "the Stiff who chose Dauntless," every eye has been on me. First jumper, first in my class, first to win the heart of reclusive "Dauntless prodigy" Four. It's a lot of pressure, especially for someone who was raised to deflect attention.

I take my time getting dressed. I really don't want to face Eric again. I know I should apologize for my outburst. After all, I was the one who brought up the Erudite reports about my family, and then I snapped at him for asking about it.

Tobias is a different situation. I know that he thinks he is right and that he will be expecting me to apologize. But I think I'm right and that he should be the one apologizing. We're at an impasse. I briefly consider conceding just to smooth things over, but my pride won't let me. I know that would just reinforce Tobias' protective and condescending behavior, and I'm fed up with it. I miss the way things were before I joined leadership and he became paranoid and overprotective.

Dressed and out of excuses to stay home, I slowly make my way to the leadership offices. I greet Kyle and place my palm on the sensor that lets me into the hall of private offices. I'm relieved to not run into anyone on my way down the hall, and I slip into my office with a sigh.

A slice of Dauntless cake is waiting on my desk with a simple apology note. It reads, "Stiff, I'm sorry. Eric." I sigh and pick up the cake. I carry it across the hall to Eric's office and tap on his door.

"It's open," he calls.

I enter and see Eric at his desk, preoccupied with some paperwork. Before he can glance up, I place the cake on his desk and slide it toward him.

"I should be the one giving you apology cake," I say. "It wasn't right for me to bring up the Erudite reports and then snap at you for asking a follow up question."

Eric smiles ruefully. "No. You've had a rough couple of days. I should know better than to bring up a sore subject. That's certainly not going to help you deal with the other things on your plate. I let my curiosity get the best of me. I really am sorry."

"That'll teach you to poke an angry bear," I tease. "Share the cake, then?"

Eric grins and riffles through his desk drawers, pulling out two plastic-wrapped forks. I drag a chair closer to his desk, and we share the rich treat in companionable silence. When it's gone, Eric gathers up the garbage as I walk toward the door.

"I have to get back to work," I say. "Thanks for the cake."

"Thanks for sharing," he replies as I walk out.

"Hey, Stiff?" he calls.

I pop my head back in his office door.

"Are we good?" he asks.

I smile. "We're good. Thanks again."

.

xxxx

.

Refreshed by the treat and my mended friendship with Eric, I have a productive afternoon in the office. At dinner time Eric looks in on me.

"Hey, are you going to eat?" he asks.

"Not now," I say, trying to look too busy to go to the cafeteria.

"Stiff," Eric chides, "you need to eat. That cake offering came from my heart, but it's not enough food for one day. You need to eat dinner."

I sigh. I'm too tired to tease him back or make up a lie.

"You want to know the truth?" I ask. "I'm not ready to face my friends, and I _really_ don't want to see Four yet. I'm embarrassed by the way he treated me last night, and I'm angry. I don't know where I stand with him. I can't walk away from what we have together, but I can't deal with him right now, either. I'm afraid I'll say something I'll regret."

Eric gives my a sad smile. "Hiding won't fix anything," he says gently.

"I know," I reply. "I just need some time to decide how I want to handle this. I have to figure out how I feel before I face him. Then I can fight for my relationship or end it confidently. I'm afraid right now I'd just let everyone's opinions sway me. I'm too tired to think straight, much less act."

"How about this," he suggests, "I'll run down to the cafeteria and pick up some dinner for you, and you can hide out in your apartment for the evening. Hopefully that will give you the time you need to sort this out, and tomorrow you can go back to eating three meals a day like a normal person."

I agree and began packing up my things. I hurry back to my apartment, avoiding anyone I see in the halls. A few minutes after I get home, I hear a knock on my door. I open the door, expecting to see Eric with my dinner, but it isn't Eric at the door.

It's Tobias.

.

 **Ugh. I'm so mean leaving you hanging like this.**

 **I want to give a shout out to DragonMaster65 who has written some of my favorite Divergent Eris fics. I borrowed the leadership admin character, Kyle, from her work, though he's a lot more of a background character in mine. I also love Divergentpanda46, Anonymous189, and Celtictraveler. Check out their great stories and more good Divergent and Hunger Games fics by looking at my favorite authors and stories.**

 **Thank you to everyone who has been reading, following, and reviewing this story.**

 **XOXO,  
Libby**


	5. Chapter 5: Face the Music

"Tobias," I breathe, shocked to see my boyfriend. I was expecting Eric, who is getting me some dinner at the cafeteria so that I don't have to see the very man now standing at my door.

"I can't leave things like this," Tobias says, rubbing the back of his neck. "I have to know, Tris. I didn't sleep last night, and I was useless all day. I just keep going back to last night. I'm angry that you were hurt and hid it from me. I'm worried about you putting yourself in that situation. But more than that, I'm terrified that I pushed you away. I don't know where we stand, and I feel so lost."

"I know," I say quietly. "I feel the same way."

"I don't want to fight any more," Tobias interjects.

"Me neither. Can I be brutally honest with you, Tobias?"

He swallows hard and nods. I can see fear in his eyes, so I weigh my words carefully.

"You've been my first, well, everything. I care about you so much. You've made me so happy and helped me find my way here in Dauntless. When things are good between us, they're really good. We have so much in common and we understand each other really well. I don't want to lose that. But I also want a chance to prove myself, to do it on my own. I was planning on spending this evening here by myself, thinking about what I want. I thought you could do the same thing, and tomorrow we could talk about it and move forward. It's going to be a battle, Tobias. We'll either have to fight for our relationship or fight to salvage our friendship."

"Love shouldn't be a fight, Tris."

"I know," I say sadly. "It's not, really. When two people love each other, though, they have to battle their own selfishness and whatever outside forces get in the way. It's not always ugly, but relationships of any kind require effort."

Tobias nods sadly. "You've changed since initiation," he admits, "sometimes I don't know where I fit into your life any more."

I agree. "Life here is so different from Abnegation. My roles here, the mindset, everything. It's a lot to take in while trying to survive initiation and now going through leadership training. Sometimes I don't know where I fit in my own life."

A lone tear trickles down Tobias' cheek. I reach up to wipe it away, and he pulls my into his arms.

"I hate this," he says, "but we need some space. To find ourselves again. I think we know what we need to do."

His voice breaks and I feel my own tears begin to flow as I press myself harder into Tobias' chest. For a moment we just stand and hold one another.

"Tobias," I say in a soft voice, "I love you, and I want you to know that anything you told me, what I saw in your fear landscape, anything we did together, it all remains between us. I'll never use it against you."

"Thank you," he breathes. "And the same goes for you. Your divergence, everything. It stays between us."

I nod into his chest and we squeeze each other before pulling apart.

"Friends?" he asks.

"Friends," I confirm.

"I start second shift tomorrow," he reminds me. "I'll be at lunch before work. We should tell our friends then. Together. Try to make it as normal as we can. No one needs to pick sides. We can stay friends, and they can too."

"You make it sound easy," I giggle a little, wiping at the traces of tears on my cheeks.

"Well, I'm an optimist," he replies.

I laugh out loud at that idea. "Since when?"

"Since now, I guess. We can do this."

"I know," I say.

Tobias gives me a brief hug before walking away.

"This is already awkward," I call to him.

"That's because I don't usually hug my friends," he calls back.

Tobias rounds the corner and I let out a deep breath.

"You're right," comes a voice from the other direction, "that was awkward. Especially for me."

"Eric? Did you just listen in on my breakup?"

"I brought your dinner," he says, "but you and Number Boy were working out your relationship, so I stayed out of the way around the corner."

I motion for him to come in my apartment and he follows, bringing two trays of food from the cafeteria.

"If I knew I was in for a breakup I would have brought us ice cream," he says as he set the trays on my kitchen island.

"Lucky for you," I tease back, "I have some in my freezer. It should help you get past your trauma."

"I don't know. It better be chocolate. I just endured a breakup and I didn't even get to be in a relationship."

I laugh. I'm glad Eric is here to keep things light. Plus, he brought me pizza for dinner, and I'm starving. We eat our dinners, then move into the living room for ice cream. I'm mulling things over as I take my first bite. Suddenly the things we said in Eric's hearing come back to me and I look up, alarm spread across my face.

"Oh my god, Eric. How much did you actually hear?"

Eric laughs, "I wondered when you would put the pieces together. Don't worry about it. I went through initiation with Four, remember? Unlike most people around here, I was at the same choosing ceremony, and I noticed Marcus Eaton's son choosing Dauntless. I saw his back before he covered it in tattoos, and I read the Erudite reports about Marcus. It wasn't hard to put those pieces together."

"Then why don't Zeke and Shauna know?" I ask.

"Apparently they weren't really paying attention to a stiff at the choosing ceremony, and then the Dauntless-born are trained separately from the transfers at first. By the time they got to know him he was Four, new record holder for fewest fears in Dauntless history. It didn't take long before that was all people knew. A few still remember Marcus' son, but they keep it to themselves."

"What else did you hear?" I ask, trying to sound casual even as my heart races with the realization that Eric probably heard what Tobias said about my divergence.

"You mean, like your divergence?" he asks. "Again, something I already knew. You don't hide it half as well as you think you do."

My eyes grow wide and I feel like all the air has been sucked out of the room.

"Breathe, Stiff," Eric reminds me. "I'm not going to kill you or anything. Jeanine is gone. No one is hunting divergents any more."

"How- how long have you known?" I squeak out.

Eric laughs. "I suspected it when you let Four throw knives at you to spare that idiot Candor kid."

"Al," I say sadly.

"Yeah, Al. I thought you were Dauntless when you were first jumper, but when you took the knives for Al you seemed Abnegation. So I looked up your test results and found a manually entered Abnegation. That's when I started keeping an eye on you. At capture the flag your reasoning skills were so Erudite that I was baffled. When your sim results hit another malfunction, I knew for sure that you were divergent and Four was helping you cover up. I worked my ass off to keep you off Jeanine's radar. When you pulled that stunt trying to see your brother in Erudite I thought for sure you were dead after that.

Lucky for both of us that's when Jeanine let me in on the secret lab she was running, and I had enough evidence to have Candor take her down. Just think, Stiff, I could have this ice cream all to myself if I hadn't kept Jeanine off your trail. Yup, a whole carton of chocolate just for me."

"To help you through the breakup you wouldn't have witnessed," I tease, throwing a pillow at Eric's head.

"For real, Eric, thank you. For hiding my divergence, for taking on Jeanine, and for being here tonight. I owe you far more than ice cream."

"Well, now that you're single I can think of a few things you can do to express your appreciation." He waggles his eyebrows up and down, and I feel myself go beet red at his implication.

Eric laughs, "that is exactly the reaction I wanted. You stiffs crack me up."

I launch another pillow at him.

"Can I ask you a question for real?" asks Eric.

"It's the least I can do for the 'hero of Chicago,'" I tease.

"What were your aptitudes?" he asks.

"You had it right," I answer, "Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite."

"You really have three?" he questions, awe in his voice. "No one has ever had more than two that I know of. Is Four divergent too?"

"I kind of promised to keep his secrets, remember? But I can honestly tell you that I don't know," I reply. "His father taught him how to make sure he got a perfect Abnegation result, so he never got to take the test honestly."

"Obviously he is divergent then," says Eric, "because only divergents are aware in a sim, and you would have to be to ensure the result you wanted."

"He has always wanted a chance to take the test for real," I say. "I told him recently that I would talk to Tori and try to make that happen for him."

"It can't change anything," says Eric. "He chose his faction and passed initiation, so he's stuck here unless he wants to be factionless."

"That's what I told him, but he still wants to know."

Eric is quiet for a minute. I can tell that he's deep in thought, parsing out some puzzle like the Erudite he once was.

"This is a fascinating question," he finally muses aloud. "We test dependents who have had a specific genetic background and upbringing - nature and nurture. But what would happen if we tested adults? They have their genes, their childhood upbringings, and their training working together to inform their way of thinking. Would that be different from the results they got the first time?"

I giggle. "Earth to Nose. Your vocabulary just got really technical, and your ice cream is melting."

Eric smiles. "I'll see what I can do. I'll bet we could give Number Boy his chance at the test."

When the ice cream is gone, Eric gathers the dishes to return to the cafeteria while I gather the cups and ice cream bowls that belong in my kitchen. We bid each other a friendly goodnight at the door.

.

xxxx

.

Eric had offered me a morning off from training, but I know I will be nervous about telling my friends about the breakup, so I insisted on training as usual. It's a beautiful late fall day, so Eric suggests a run outside as a compromise. As we jog through the streets of Chicago, I revel in the sunshine on my face and the fresh breeze. It's the perfect way to clear my mind and prepare for the day ahead.

After a shower and a change of clothes, I meet Tobias outside the cafeteria. We smile shyly and I grab his hand as we walk into the cafeteria and over to our usual table. Our friends are all there, trays of lunch in front of them. Tobias stops at the head of the table and speaks up.

"Everyone, Tris and I have something to tell you."

Our friends immediately stop what they were doing. Uriah even freezes with his fork halfway to his mouth, which makes me giggle. Christina wears a shocked expression and her eyes dart quickly to my hand then back to my face.

"Okay," Tobias begins, collecting his thoughts before he continues. "Tris and I had a talk last night, and we decided that as much as we care about each other, our relationship just isn't what's best for us right now, so we're going to go back to being friends."

He smiles down at me, "right?"

"Right," I agree. "And we don't want you guys to feel weird or think you have to pick sides. We didn't fight about it, neither of us did anything to the other. We decided together that this is what's best for us."

"I thought you were going to say that you got engaged," says Christina, ruefully.

"Or pregnant," say Zeke and Uriah at the same time.

"Jinx!" yells Uri.

"Shut up-" begins Zeke before his brother cuts him off.

"You can't talk! Those are the rules!"

Zeke huffs and sulks away from the table. I'm confused, as I often am by their weird little games, and I'm about to ask what is happening when Zeke returns to the table bearing a piece of Dauntless cake, which he places in front of his brother.

"There," says Uriah, "was that so hard?"

Zeke sticks his tongue out in response, and Tobias and I laugh as we go to get ourselves some lunch.


	6. Chapter 6: Making a New Normal

**A/N: For those of you who are totally team Fourtris, I'm sorry about the breakup. The good news is that there is a lot more to this story than Tris' love life. I have three pet peeves about non-Fourtris stories. First, I dislike when people have Tobias snap and become abusive, cheating, or even murderous. I know it's hard to imagine the OTP breaking up, but it doesn't have to be ugly. Two good people can grow apart. Second, I don't like when authors have Fourtris breakup and then she immediately jumps into bed, or even just a relationship, with the next man. After a breakup it takes a little time to get to know yourself again, especially if you were together for a long time. The character of Tris was big on proving herself, and I think that needs to be honored. Third, there are just some ships that don't sail with me. For example, Tris plus either Pedrad brother feels like incest to me. Some people like that relationship and have done some well-written stories along that line, but it's just not for me. Well, on with the story!**

 **XOXO, Libby**

.

xxxx

.

For the next week I train and work on learning leadership responsibilities. Zeke and Tobias are on second shift and Shauna and Marlene are on duty at the wall, so our friend group is pretty quiet. I appreciate the space as I get used to not being in a relationship with Tobias. I see Eric and Uriah in the office and have lunch with Christina and Will most days.

On my next day off I purchase a television and basic entertainment equipment. Will and Christina help me get it back to my apartment, and Will sets it up for me.

"When are you going to host a party?" Christina asks, "You have the biggest apartment of any of us, yet we always end up at Zeke and Uriah's little place."

"I don't know," I reply, "Pedrad parties get pretty wild. I'm not sure how the other leaders would like having Uriah streaking down the hall on a dare."

Christina and Will laugh. "With this new system set up, you could do a movie night," Will suggests.

"Yes!" Christina shrieks. "Even if it's just a girls night! That would be fun!"

"I get this all set up and you want to party without me," Will teases, sticking out his bottom lip in a mock pout.

"Oh, my poor honey," says Christina. "Okay, you can come."

"Now you're inviting people to a party I haven't agreed to have!" I say.

"You know," suggests Christina, "we could plan a tame little movie night when Four and Zeke are on third shift. That keeps the awkward, the crazy, and the size of the crowd down."

I consider that for a minute. Leave it to an ex-Candor to find a loophole. "Okay, let's do it," I agree.

.

xxxx

.

Surprisingly, Christina manages to keep her mouth shut about my movie night "party." As the designated evening approaches, I learn that not only will Tobias and Zeke be working, but Shauna has taken an extra week at the wall. Wall guards earn more per hour when they take extra shifts, so I can't blame her for taking the bump in pay when Zeke is going to be working overnights anyway.

Lynn also has plans that night, so the movie night is going to be just Uriah and Marlene, Will and Christina, and me. Being the third wheel sounds like torture. That's how I find myself knocking timidly on Eric's office door on the day of the party.

"Come in," he barks gruffly.

I inch into his office, causing Eric to look up from his work.

"What's up, Stiff?" he asks.

"Um, hey, Eric," I begin, suddenly nervous. "So I'm kind of having a party tonight at my place. Actually it's just a movie night with my friends. But people keep backing out, and now it's going to be just me and two happy couples. Since you're my friend too I was kind of hoping you would come over, at least for a little while. You know…" I trailed off.

Eric looks up, studying my face. "Do you want me to come because we're friends and you want to hang out, or do you want me there to make things less awkward?"

"Um, both?" I respond, though it sounds more like a question than an answer. "Come on, it'll be fun. I have junk food and beer, and we're going to watch an action movie. No Candor or Dauntless this time, I promise."

"Will Number Boy be there?" asks Eric.

"No," I assure him. "He's on late shift this week. That's kind of why we planned it for tonight. Less awkward and all that."

I bite my lip and wait for Eric's reply. I find myself really hoping that my friend will come, and not just because it will keep me from being the odd man out. During my time in leadership training and my breakup with Tobias, Eric has proven to be a good friend, and I'm sincerely hoping he can become part of our social circle.

"I'll come on one condition," Eric agrees, "I'm bringing something better than your cheap beer, and you're going to have a drink with me."

"You agree to come _and_ you're bringing better booze?" I ask. "Are you sure you don't have an aptitude for Abnegation?"

Eric chuckles, "maybe you're rubbing off on me, Stiff. Besides, you don't know what I'm bringing. Could be more of that moonshine that Zeke had."

"That stuff wasn't bad," I defend. "I don't know why everyone kept saying it was so terrible."

"I'm starting to rethink sharing my good scotch with you," teases Eric, "since you obviously have no taste buds."

"I've never had scotch," I say, "but I'm willing to give it a try."

"I'll see you tonight, then," says Eric.

I nod and leave his office. Immediately after walking out of Eric's office, I run smack into a solid wall of muscular chest.

"Oof," I grunt, looking up into the face of Uriah. "Dude. You're like a boulder."

Uriah laughs. "What's with the shit-eating grin, Prior?"

"Can't I be happy to see you?" I ask evasively.

Uriah raises an eyebrow at me. "I'm not Candor, but even I know that's crap. First I see you coming out of Eric's office grinning like the cat that got the canary, then you try to lie about it. What's really going on?"

"Ugh, fine," I say, "Eric just agreed to come to our movie night tonight, and he's bringing some scotch that he wants me to try."

"Like a date?" prods Uriah.

"What!" I exclaim. "No, not like a date. Like a friend. Geez, Uri, I just broke up with Four last week, and a big part of that was because I need to prove to myself and everyone else that I can do this on my own. I'm not looking for a relationship. Besides, do you remember how much crap I got when people found out that I was dating Four right after initiation? If people think I'm hooking up with Eric they'll start accusing me of sleeping my way to the top again, and you and I both know that isn't true."

Uriah raises his hands defensively. "Okay, okay, you're just friends. Don't bite my head off."

"Sorry," I mumble.

"I gotta get back to work," he says, patting my shoulder. "I'll see you tonight, okay?"

"Okay, bye Uri."

Uriah waves as he heads down the hall. I stand for a minute and rehash everything I said to Eric. He doesn't think I was asking him on a date, does he? Of course not. Eric is just a friend. Besides, he's a Dauntless leader, the hero who took down Jeanine Matthews, and, I have to admit, seriously good looking. I'm lucky that he even wants to be my friend. Of course he doesn't have the wrong idea, right?

.

xxxx

.

After dinner in the cafeteria, Uriah, Marlene, Christina, and Will walk back to my apartment with me. I show them around a little, then begin preparing snacks. I hear a knock at the door, and open it to find Eric waiting in the hall, a glass bottle of amber liquid in his hand.

"Did someone order a devilishly handsome leader and a bottle of scotch?" he asks.

I lean out the door, pretending to look up and down the hall. "Where?" I tease.

"You wound me," says Eric. "For that I'll keep my scotch to myself and you can go back to drinking that cinnamon poison."

I shrug. "That's not much of a threat since I'm not that one that hated it."

Eric laughs and leans close to my ear.

"I'm going to give you something so good you'll forget all about the past and what you thought was good," he says in a low, seductive voice.

I shiver involuntarily at the rumble of his deep voice in my ear. "That's a pretty big claim," I say in the same low voice. "Are you sure you can follow through?"

Eric grins wolfishly. "Trust me. I know what I bring to the table."

I turn to go further into my apartment and catch Uriah watching me. He waggles his eyebrows at me and I blush. Eric is a hopeless tease, and he loves getting a rise out of me because I'm a former Abnegation and I embarrass so easily.

In the kitchen, Eric grabs two glasses off the island and pours a little bit of the scotch into each of them.

"Anyone else want a little scotch?" he offers. "Tris shamed herself with that cinnamon crap at Zeke's and the cheap beer she buys, so I brought over a fifteen-year aged single malt."

"I'm in," yells Uriah, jumping out of his chair. Eric pours another glass.

"Me too," says Will. "I've only had scotch once before."

"Ladies?" offers Eric as he pours a glass for Will.

"None for me, thanks," says Marlene.

"Me either," says Christina, making a grossed-out face.

"Now I'm worried," I say, "their reaction isn't exactly encouraging."

Eric hands me a glass. "Trust me," he says quietly.

The guys and I bump glasses and Uriah pounds his scotch in one gulp.

"Dude!" says Will. "It's not tequila shots. This stuff is expensive. You're supposed to savor it."

Eric raises his glass to Will before taking a sip. Setting his glass down, he glances at me.

"I like the cinnamon better," I say, struggling to keep a straight face.

Eric's mouth falls open and he's struck speechless for a minute.

"I don't think we can be friends anymore," he says in mock outrage as he reaches to take my glass away.

"No, no, no!" I defend my glass. "I'm teasing you. It's good!"

"Good?" he asks.

"I don't know how to explain it," I say. "It's kind of like caramel but not sweet. It's smooth and a little smoky."

"Complex," offers Will.

I nod, "definitely complex. It looks like it's going to be harsh, but then you take a sip and there is a warmth and unexpected depth to it."

Eric grins as he pours a little more into my glass and offers Will the same. "Now that's a worthy description. You can drink scotch with me anytime. Unless, of course, you'd rather have that cinnamon stuff."

"Cinnamon who?" I ask. "See, I've forgotten it already. Let's start a movie."

My friends take their snacks and drinks into the living room and settle in. I end up in the center seat of my sofa, with Eric on one side and Christina on the other. Will takes a chair at Chris' side of the couch and the two hold hands on the armrest between them. Uriah takes the chair on the other side of the couch, Marlene perched on his lap.

The movie is a spy-themed action thriller that I've seen before. Relaxed by the scotch and the dark room, I doze off.

When the movie ends, Will begins cleaning up while Uriah and Marlene get ready to leave. I blink and sit up, roused by the crescendo in conversation. I notice that Eric is already gone. Apparently I fell asleep on Christina's shoulder.

"Sorry, Chris," I mumble.

"Don't worry about it," Christina laughs. "Besides, you fell asleep on Eric first. We just moved you to my shoulder a few minutes ago when he had to leave."

I blush deep red. "First we drink up his scotch, then I make him uncomfortable drooling on his shoulder," I lament. "I doubt he'll be hanging out with us again."

"He didn't seem to mind," says Uriah with a knowing look that makes me blush even more.

I refuse to let my friends help with the dishes and bid them goodnight at the door.

What must Eric think of this mess? He teases me to make me uncomfortable and I end up being the one making him uncomfortable. No wonder he took off before I woke up.


	7. Chapter 7: The Past Comes Back

**A/N: A little gift for you all, an early chapter. I'll be back on Tuesday or Wednesday this week as usual, but I thought it would be fun to surprise you with an early chapter, too. Hopefully this good karma will result in new chapters for the stories I'm following as well. A girl can dream... Have a good weekend!**

 **XOXO,  
** **Libby**

.

Autumn fades and the first icy threat of winter comes to Chicago. Inside the Dauntless compound things feel pretty much the same year-round, but that's thanks in no small part to our leadership and maintenance teams. Behind the scenes I'm learning about things like heat plant repairs, snow removal teams, and changes to the wall guarding schedule in cold weather.

It has been six months now since my friends and I chose Dauntless. Will suggests a happy hour night out to celebrate, and everyone from our initiate group comes out to drink, even Peter. We meet at the pit bar on the designated Saturday evening. After a few rounds of drinks, the mood turns somber.

"Do you ever think about Edward and Myra?" asks Christina. "I wonder if they stayed together and what they're doing with the factionless."

"I saw him once," says Marlene. "I was on patrol in near the factionless sector and saw him from a distance. I don't think he knew me at all, you guys were training separate from us until he left, but I recognized him right away. Even in factionless the eye patch stands out."

We're quiet for a minute, deep in thought as we sip our drinks.

"Drew and Molly are out there, too," says Will.

"And that kid who didn't get on the train," I add.

We all nod.

"Anyone ever regret their choice?" Peter slurs.

We're quiet for a minute, then Rita speaks up. "I don't, not really, I mean I was born here and this is all I know. But sometimes I wish Carla had chosen differently. We wouldn't be together, but it's better to imagine her working in the Amity fields or serving the factionless with Abnegation than to remember her broken body laying on the ground under the tracks."

She sniffles and Marlene and Uriah each wrap an arm around her.

"Were you and Carla twins?" I ask. "I had a brother who chose the same year we did, but we weren't twins. We're just 10 months apart, so we landed in the same choosing year."

"Yes," says Rita with a sad smile. "We weren't identical, but we were twins. It's weird going on without her. I've never known life without Carla. It was so hard losing her and having to go on with initiation. All of our friends, too. We just had to keep going like she never existed. So thank you for asking and for letting me talk about her."

"Of course," I say, patting her hand, "it's important to remember the ones we lost, too. They're part of us."

"Like Al," says Christina. Looking up at me sheepishly, she adds, "sorry."

I wave her off. "He was your friend, you're right to grieve and miss him."

"I have trouble balancing my memories of Al our friend with the Al that attacked you," she adds quietly.

All I can do is nod. I feel that way too.

Peter pipes up, unsteady and too loud. "Al was a pansy. He was too weak for Dauntless, and he killed himself over a little Stiff!"

In a flash Will is on his feet, ready to defend his dead friend.

"You asshole!" he yells, "Al is dead because you badgered him into hurting his friend. You cost him his friendships and nearly killed Tris. You're the most likely candidate for who stabbed Edward, too, yet you're still here and they're gone!"

I quickly wave for a couple security guards to come to our table, and they rush right over.

"Guys, Mr. Hayes here has had too much and is asking for a one-way ticket to the bottom of the chasm. Could you please escort him to the drunk tank for the night before one of us punches his ticket? Thank you."

The guards nod and grab Peter, locking his hands behind him in handcuffs.

"This is an abuse of power!" he screams, pulling away from the guards. "You're not even a full leader yet. You can't have me arrested for having a drink! We're at a bar, for god's sake! You bitch! You slept your way to the top and now you're abusing the power you stole from me!"

His enraged screams fade as the guards drag him to the detox cells. If there is no actual crime to charge him with, he will be free again tomorrow, once he has sobered up. I sure hope he doesn't remember tonight, or I'm going to have to watch my back.

Will returns to his seat and Christina puts an arm around his shoulders. I offer him a small smile of thanks.

"We came out tonight to celebrate," laments Lynn, "now look at us."

"Peter is an ass," says Uriah, "he ruins everything."

"As much as I hate Peter, I think this was inevitable. We came here to celebrate our choice and everything we overcame to get here, but we can't do that without thinking about what we lost along the way," I say. "When we get to the one year anniversary I think we should just go ziplining or something to remember why we chose Dauntless."

"And we shouldn't invite Peter," says Uriah.

We all raise our glasses and toast in agreement.

.

xxxx

.

Thankfully I have the next day off from training, because when I finally wake up I have a terrible hangover. It takes me a few minutes to realize that the pounding I hear isn't just my head. Someone is banging on my apartment door. I make my way, slowly and painfully, to the entrance to my apartment. Standing on my toes, I peek through the peephole and see a tense-looking Eric behind the door.

"I have today off," I grumble as I open the door.

Eric chuckles darkly, looking me over like an Erudite examining a specimen. He lets himself in my apartment then digs around in my kitchen, then hands me a bottle of water and two pain relievers.

"I hear you had Hayes arrested," he says.

I roll my eyes. "Not arrested. He had too much to drink and got mouthy. I thought Will was going to start throwing punches, so I had security take him to the drunk tank for the night."

"Tris, this morning we were notified that Peter has been arrested and charged with assault and attempted murder. Since you're listed as one of the victims, I came right over here to find out what happened."

I'm baffled. "I don't know. I mean last night he was drunk and he was slurring and saying crap about Al and everything, so the guards took him away. Did he hurt one of them?"

"No," Eric replies, "the charges say assault and attempted murder against you, and a second assault charge against an unnamed victim. Are you sure nothing happened last night?"

"No," I insist, "nothing. I was drinking, but I haven't forgotten anything. At least I don't think I have. Besides, there isn't a scratch on me. The only thing wrong with me is this headache and someone beating down my door early in the morning."

"Well hurry up and get dressed; we'll figure out what's going on."

I nod and rush back to my bedroom. In the bathroom I splash cold water on my face and drag a comb through my wild hair, wrestling it into a messy bun. I throw on the first clean clothes I can find and hurry back out to the living room.

Eric practically drags me back to the leadership offices where Max is pacing the hallway.

"I thought you had the weekend off," I say in greeting.

His head snaps up at the sound of my voice, and he hurries over and grabs my shoulders, looking at me carefully.

"Well, when I'm notified that one of my fellow leaders has been assaulted and nearly killed, it kind of messes up my schedule. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I insist. "In fact, I don't even know what this is about. Peter got drunk last night and I had him put in the detox holding area for the night. Next thing I know Eric is banging down my door and telling me that I'm supposed to be the victim of an assault and attempted murder."

"You weren't attacked?" he asks.

"No," I say, "I don't even know what this is about."

"You said you had him locked up for the night because he was being drunk and belligerent," says Eric. "Let's start with a trip to the security office. Maybe they can straighten this out."

I nod in agreement and the three of us make our way through the compound to the security center. As we enter the lobby, officers at the desk jump to their feet and salute us. I resist the urge to giggle, and Max returns the salute.

"I understand you brought in Peter Hayes last night," he says to the men at the desk. One of them is a short and middle-aged, and the other has a baby face that makes him look too young for initiation, much less a security officer job.

"Yes sir," says the older man. He grabs a file off the desk and hands it to Max who reads through it quickly.

"It says here that he was brought in for drunken disorderly conduct and was placed in one of the detox cells for his own safety. Why was I notified this morning that he was arrested for assault and attempted murder?"

The younger officer points to a second paper in the folder. "Right there, sir," he says. "Once Hayes was locked up he started ranting, and ended up confessing to attacking a former initiate as well as Miss Prior. It wasn't completely clear what he was yelling about, but there were some clear threats against Miss Prior, so we booked him on charges and sent him to jail in Candor where they can try him under truth serum. After he sobers up, of course."

"Tris, I'm going to need more than 'I don't know' out of you," says Max. "What is Peter talking about, attacking you and another initiate."

"The other initiate was Edward, I guess. He was attacked in his sleep after he ranked first during the fighting phase of initiation."

"The one who got a butter knife in the eye?" asks Max.

"Yes," I confirm. "There was no evidence, but everyone suspected Peter. Now that he's been arrested they can put him under truth serum and find out for sure. Edward ended up factionless and missing an eye because of that attack. If Peter did it he needs to be punished to the fullest extent of the law."

"Tris," says Eric in a low but firm voice, "what about his claim that he attacked you and tried to kill you?"

I sigh. I knew they would come back to that.

"When I ranked number one after the fear sims, Peter and a couple of his cronies dangled me over the chasm," I mumble.

"Cronies?" asks Max. "Do we need to make any more arrests?"

"No," I say. "He was aided by his friend Drew, who failed initiation and ended up factionless, and by my supposed friend, Al."

"The kid who jumped?" asks Eric, his eyes big with shock.

I nod, and answer in a small voice. "I refused to forgive him after he helped Peter attack me. That's why he jumped."

"Why wasn't this reported?" asks Max, his voice angry and raising in volume.

I stare at the floor. "I didn't want to," I mumble. I wish I could shrink until I become invisible.

"What is with you and not wanting to report attacks?" Max practically roars. "I need you to sit down right now and make a full report about the incident!"

The room takes on a surreal quality as the edges of my vision go dark. I can't get a full breath, and I feel like I'm going to be sick.

"Tris!" yells Eric as my knees start to buckle beneath me. "Damn it Max, don't yell at the victim. I think she's having a panic attack!"

Max instantly looks contrite and reaches for me as the guards jump up from their desk and approach me as well. Everyone come toward me, reaching for me is the last thing I remember.

When I wake up I'm in the infirmary. There's a steady beeping that must be a heart monitor, and I see that I'm hooked up to an IV. I look around the semi-dark room and see the large form of Eric slumped in a chair, his head in his hands.

"Eric," I mumble, causing his head to pop up quickly, "what happened?"

"You passed out," he says as he hurries to my side. "You had a panic attack and fainted. The doctor said you were also dehydrated, so they gave you the IV for fluids." His hand reaches out as if to stroke my face, but he hesitates, then pats my hand instead.

"How long have I been here?"

"About an hour," he says with a sad smile. "They thought you could use some rest so they gave you a mild sedative before you came around. Will has been here working, and Christina, Uriah, and Four are in the waiting room."

I groan. I really don't want to see my friends right now. I don't want to rehash what happened with Peter, Drew, and Al, and I'm ashamed that I panicked and fainted over it. I feel weak and embarrassed.

"Can- can you have Four come in here for a minute?" I ask.

Eric nods and leaves the room, returning a minute later with a worried-looking Four.

"Tris!" he says as he rushes to the bed.

"I'm fine," I insist, raising my hands to keep him at bay. "I just fainted. Peter confessed to attacking me during initiation. Apparently he _was_ trying to kill me. I don't want to see anyone right now. Can you tell them I'm okay but that I need a day or so to rest?"

"Of course," Tobias assures me. I knew he was the right one to talk to. Our common Abnegation background helps him understand my aversion to all the fuss and attention.

Tobias pats my hand before leaving the room.

"Do you want me to go too?" Eric asks.

"Actually," I say sheepishly, "I was kind of counting on you to help me get out of here."

Once the doctor examines me again, she declares me fit to go home, but insists that I rest for a day before filing my report about the attack or doing anything strenuous. A nurse removes the IV needle from my arm, and I'm allowed to put my own clothes on again. The IV fluids were room temperature, so I'm chilled when I leave the warm bed. Eric comes back into my room and immediately notices me shivering. He removes his hooded sweatshirt and wraps it around me. It's warm from his body heat and smells masculine. I pull the hood over my head and cautiously take the hand that Eric offers.

Eric is a soldier on a mission as he takes me back to my apartment. He checks every doorway and hallway before he leads me through them, and his glare scares away any curious or well-wishing Dauntless that we come across.

We make it back to my apartment without incident, and he leads me straight to my bed. I take off my shoes and climb under my soft covers fully dressed. In spite of the nap I took in the infirmary, I am exhausted. The doctor warned us that I probably would be. Panic attacks take a lot out of you, and even mild sedatives take a while to completely wear off.

Eric tucks me in and turns to leave.

"Wait," I call to him.

He turns back. "Yes?" he asks.

I really want to ask him to stay with me, but I'm embarrassed, and I don't want to be a burden.

"Never mind," I mumble. "It's just, um, if you want you could come back later. There's an extra key hanging by the door. You can take that so you don't have to worry about waking me up. You can just come in, you know, whenever."

Eric nods, and I see a ghost of a smile pass across his face. "I'll do that," he says. "You get some rest and I'll bring you lunch in a little bit."

I'm not hungry, but the truth is that I don't want to be alone. If lunch gets Eric to come back, I'll force myself to eat.


	8. Chapter 8: Guard Dog

I slowly open my eyes. It's dark, but not nighttime dark. A glance at the clock shows it to be 3:00 pm. It takes a minute for my groggy brain to remember the difference between am and pm and figure out that it's dark in here in the middle of the day because the blinds are closed tight. I sit up and turn to put my feet on the floor. So far, so good. I stand, cautiously. I'm tired, foggy, and a little dizzy, but I'm not in any pain.

I shuffle out to the living room and find Eric on my couch. He's wearing a pair of glasses and looking over some papers. For a minute I just stand and stare. I've never seen him in glasses before. In spite of his tattoos and piercings they make him look Erudite. I try to picture him young and unmarked, his arms full of books and his head full of useless facts. The thought makes me giggle and he looks up suddenly at the sound.

"Stiff!" he says. "You're awake. How do you feel?"

"Fine," I say, trying to be nonchalant. "I had a nice nap. How long have you been here?"

Eric rubs the back of his neck and doesn't make eye contact with me. "Um, for a little while," he admits hesitantly.

"I thought you were going to wake me up for lunch?"

"You looked so peaceful," he says, "and I wanted you to hold on to that as long as you could. I knew you would wake up if you got hungry enough."

I shrug and start digging through my fridge. I find a bag lunch from the cafeteria and some new grocery items. I settle on the bag lunch and a bottle of water, and start picking at it.

"You still didn't answer me," I say between bites. "How long have you been here?"

Eric shrugs. "I picked up lunch, and you were sleeping, so I went to get some paperwork, and I've been working from here. You don't mind, do you?"

"No," I assure him, "I don't mind at all. And thanks for the lunch."

Eric gathers his papers into a neat stack, tucking them into a folder and then into the leather bag by his feet. He removes his glasses and puts them on the coffee table, then examines me again.

"You're being awfully calm for someone who had a breakdown just a few hours ago," he says cautiously. "What's going on in your head?"

"Shame, mostly," I admit, rewrapping the majority of my lunch. "I'm trying to be calm and not think about everything, but I'm really not sure where I go from here or what I'll be facing tomorrow. The uncertainty and the thought of everyone staring at me, having them all know what Peter, Drew, and Al did to me…"

I grab the edge of the counter and try to regulate my breathing. I hear Eric get up from the sofa and hurry to my side. He timidly puts a hand on my back.

"Stiff?" he questions quietly. "You okay?"

I nod, then let my shoulders fall and shake my head instead. I'm not okay. None of this is okay, and I'm dizzy again. Eric wraps his arms around me and half guides - half carries me to the living room. He seats us side by side on the couch and wraps his arms securely around me.

"It's okay, Tris," he soothes.

I laugh, half hysterical. "You were such a jerk during initiation," I explain, "yet here you are comforting me like a little girl with a skinned knee. It's kind of funny."

Eric sighs. "I had to be a jerk back then. I couldn't let anyone get close to me. It might have blown my cover or given Jeanine someone to leverage against me. I couldn't afford that. And Tris, you are so much more than a little girl, and this is so much more than a skinned knee. It's natural to be upset. It's okay if you break down. It's just us here."

I nod, touched by his words and comforted by his arms. This is so different from my relationship with Tobias. Eric makes me feel capable and encourages me to not hide my feelings. Tobias acted like every little thing that upset me was proof that I made a bad choice by joining leadership, which made me want to hide my feelings.

It wasn't always that way. During initiation and when we first got together Tobias was supportive. I remember jumping on the train one time. When he reached out a hand to help me I insisted that I could do it myself. He agreed, saying that he knew I could, but that I didn't have to do it alone when he was there. Something changed between us when I chose leadership. I don't know if me holding a higher position made him feel insecure, or if knowing that I would be forced to see Marcus at leadership events brought up bad memories. Maybe he really just thought I couldn't handle leadership. In any case, once I started training to be a Dauntless leader things changed.

"Tris?" Eric gently interrupts my reverie. "Are you awake?"

I nod against his chest. He pets my hair, and in a soothing voice asks if I can tell him what happened that night when Peter and his minions attacked me.

I bury my face deeper into Eric's chest and arms. This will be easier if I don't have to see his reaction.

"It was the night after the second stage rankings," I begin, "and I was in the top spot. I had trouble sleeping that night, so at one point I got up to get some water. I was out in the hall when they jumped me from behind. They covered my eyes and mouth. I couldn't scream for help and I couldn't even see what was going on. I bit, I kicked, I fought, but I was outnumbered three-to-one, and they were all bigger than me. They dragged me to the chasm and tried to throw me over. It gets fuzzy at that point. I remember Peter groping me and mocking me, and I remember hitting my head on something hard. Al ran away, and Peter managed to get me over the railing before he ran off too.

Four showed up, and he beat Drew pretty bad, then pulled me back over the railing. I refused to go to the infirmary or press charges against my attackers. Al was my friend, and I knew accusing Peter and Drew would just put a bigger target on my back. I didn't want them to know I was weak and scared, and I didn't want all of Dauntless to know I was incapable of defending myself.

Four carried me back to his place. He cleaned me up, bandaged my wounds, and iced my head. He let me stay in his apartment for the night so I could get some sleep and be safe. He gave me some advice in the morning, and took me back to my friends."

"I can't believe he didn't file a report," Eric snarls. "He knew about an assault on an initiate. As a trainer it's his responsibility to keep everyone safe. Ignoring an attack like that is a serious lapse in judgment. He could be fired for that, or even charged with a crime."

"Please, Eric, leave Four out of this. It's my fault he didn't report it. I insisted. Besides, he saved me! I can't let him get in trouble for that!"

"Tris, we don't have a choice here. You have to file a report about what happened, all the details. And if your story doesn't line up with Peter's confession, you might have to testify under truth serum. Hiding his involvement is just going to look worse when the truth is revealed."

I contemplate the options for a few minutes. "I just wish everyone would leave me alone," I moan. "Al is dead, Drew is factionless, and Peter blew his own cover. I just want it to be over."

Eric sighs again. "You didn't eat much of that bag lunch," he says. "Are you hungry at all? I brought ingredients to make dinner so you could stay in and rest this evening."

I shrug, still preoccupied with the problem of filing my report and even testifying without getting Tobias into trouble.

"I'm going to make us something," says Eric, disentangling me from his arms.

I lay down on the couch and mull over my options. I could try and get a copy of Peter's confession before I file my report. But what he said drunk may differ from what he says under truth serum. I could keep my report vague and hope it's enough to corroborate Peter's testimony so I won't have to testify under truth serum. They already have a confession, so as long as there aren't any discrepancies between what he says and what I say, they probably won't put the victim under truth serum. Right?

"Eric?" I call. "Do you have the report I have to file? I'd like to get it out of the way tonight."

"The doctor told you to rest and wait until tomorrow," he calls back.

"I'm physically fine," I argue. "That doctor isn't a psychiatrist; she doesn't know. She was just making a suggestion. I want to get it over with tonight."

Eric contemplates my argument. "I'll make you a deal," he offers. "If you eat enough dinner we can do the report tonight."

I agree to his conditions, and he presents me with a plate of chicken, peas, and a baked potato. Abnegation food. I give him a knowing look.

"What?" he asks, "The doctor said to keep it simple tonight, and what's simpler than the Stiff dinner special?"

Eric joins me on the couch and I notice that his dinner has some more seasonings, butter on the potato, and a sauce he didn't put on my plate. I enjoy the simple fare. It reminds me of home and quiet evenings with my family. Eric looks pleasantly surprised when I finish my meal.

"Do you still want to fill out that report tonight?" he asks me.

I nod. I want this over with. He digs through his leather bag and pulls out a worksheet and a pen. I take it to the kitchen island where I painstakingly write out a bare bones version of the tale I told Eric earlier. I refer to my assailants as "three masked men who I discovered were Peter, Drew, and Al from my initiate class." I brush over Peter's groping as "inappropriate touches over my clothing." I describe hitting my head on the railing and say that I "made my escape when a Dauntless male arrived, engaging Drew in a fight as Al and Peter ran away." I don't mention Four at all, nor do I mention where I went after the attack. The report is completely factional without being too revealing. Even Eric has to agree that I managed to walk a fine line that might just keep Four from getting involved.

Eric offers to turn in the report at the security office and get us ice cream. I don't know how long he plans on staying here with me, but I'm not going to ask because it might make him think that I want him to leave. The truth is that I'm enjoying Eric's company. He makes me feel safe, and he doesn't push or scold me. He's been remarkably thoughtful and supportive.

Just a minute after Eric leaves, there's a timid knock at my door, and I wonder if he forgot something. I open it a crack and find Christina in the hall.

"What's up, Chris?" I ask, opening the door wider.

"Are you okay?" she asks. "I've been in the Control Room with Four and Zeke practically all day watching for your guard dog to leave so I could check on you!"

"My guard dog?" I ask. "Eric?"

"Yeah," she says, "he won't let anyone come see you. He says you need rest and quiet."

"That's what the doctor said," I confirm. "I've actually been asleep most of the day, and I guess Eric has been working from here. He just went to turn in an official report and get us some ice cream."

Christina raises an eyebrow at me in a knowing way.

"What?" I ask, blushing.

"Oh my gosh! You like him, don't you?" she grills.

I feel my blush deepen. "Chris," I whine, "we're just friends. Besides, I just broke up with Four and I'm not-"

"Oh. My. God." she interrupts. "That was over a month ago now. What are you waiting for? You obviously like him, and if this protective vibe he's had all day is any indication, I'd say he likes you too."

"Chris," I whine. "Stop. I want to finish leadership training before I think about dating anyone again. Besides, Eric could do so much better. He's a leader, and a hero, and, I mean, just look at him!"

"Riiiight," says Christina, her voice dragging and sarcastic. "What on Earth would Eric want with a beautiful blonde who also happens to be deadly smart and one of the nicest people in all of Dauntless. It baffles the mind."

I blush again at her compliments.

"I gotta go," she says quickly. "Your pitbull hottie will be back any minute, and I don't want him to hang me over the chasm again. I'm glad you're feeling better. Come visit me at the store tomorrow if you can."

I agree and Christina hurries away.

Back on the sofa, I don't have long to wait for Eric's return. He taps quietly on the door before letting himself in with the key I gave him earlier.

"I brought chocolate ice cream and cookie dough ice cream," he greets me. "Which would you like?"

"How about a scoop of each," I suggest.

"There's that Erudite aptitude," he teases me. "I think I'll have the same."

He doesn't let me help in the kitchen, insisting that he can handle the simple task of scooping ice cream. I pick out a movie while I wait for him.

Once we're settled side by side on the couch, Eric digs around in his pocket and tries to return my spare key.

"Keep it," I say, trying to sound nonchalant. "You're my nearest neighbor, my coworker, and my friend. You can have a key to my place. Unless you don't want it," I trail off in a small voice.

"You trust me?" his voice is full of wonder. "Shouldn't you give it to Christina? She's your best friend, after all."

"No way!" I argue. "I love Christina, and she _is_ my best friend, but if she had a key to my apartment I would come home to find her here every time she and Will have an argument. Plus, she would go through my wardrobe and replace everything comfortable with something short or tight. It's better if she can only be here supervised!"

"So no replacing your comfy clothes with short skirts and high heels? And I can't come here if I fight with Will? I don't know, Prior, you're asking a lot of me," he teases.

I can't help it and laugh out loud. "I can't imagine what you would add to my wardrobe!"

Eric thinks for a minute, and a devilish grin crosses his face. "How about an Erudite schoolgirl skirt?" he suggests. "Dauntlessly short, of course, with those sexy heels you wore the other day."

"Is this a fantasy of yours, Coulter?" I tease back. "Does the Nose miss his glasses and the sight of blue plaid skirts?"

Eric growls and leans close to my ear. "Don't tease me," he says in a low, seductive voice that makes my stomach flip.

He gathers the dirty dishes and I will my face to cool down while he's out of the room. That went a little far for friendly teasing. Christina was right, I totally like Eric. I have to get ahold of my feelings before I embarrass myself.

I hear Eric start my dishwasher, and then he calls me from the kitchen. "Stiff? I gotta get going. Will you be okay?"

"I'm fine," I assure him. "I feel much better since I got that report done."

"You know where I am if you need me," he says as he hurries out the door.

That was strange. Apparently our teasing was too much for Eric, as well, and he had to get out of here. I hope things won't be weird between us now.


	9. Chapter 9: Testing

Once Candor received my report, along with the detention report from Peter's night in the drunk tank and his surveillance tape confession, they reviewed the documents and set a trial date. Peter was held in custody at Candor to await trial. Normally he would be kept here in Dauntless where we have our own jail, but with the charge of attempted murder he was taken right to the maximum security facility at Candor.

The date for the trial coincides with the end of my leadership training, so I have a lot on my mind. I'm still doing physical training with Eric in the mornings, when he doesn't cancel on me. Things have been pretty cool between us. Apparently our flirty evening eating ice cream on my couch was uncomfortable for him, because he has kept his distance from me ever since. I miss my friend, and I feel bad about letting things get awkward. I've finished my hands-on office training, and have been keeping regular office hours like the other leaders while studying for my final exam.

My social life is pretty much non-existent. After word got out that Peter tried to kill me during initiation, everyone started staring at me and talking about me. I would walk into the cafeteria and conversations would stop as people looked away or tried to look busy. My upcoming final exam for leadership makes a good excuse to avoid everyone, so I stay in my office or my apartment most of the time.

I still pop in to the store to see Christina and drool over my leather jacket. She, Marlene, and Lynn come by my place some nights to help me study or share a pizza. The rest of my meals I've been taking at my apartment, which means I'm back to eating Abnegation food because that's what I know how to cook.

After filing my report on Peter's attack, I met with Tobias to explain the situation. I informed him that I had kept the wording vague to keep him out of it as much as possible. I don't think Peter knows who rescued me, and where I went after the attack isn't relevant to Peter's guilt or innocence, so I'm hopeful that we can get through this without getting Tobias in trouble.

A knock on my apartment door startles me. Apparently my mind wandered while I was studying. This chapter on protocols and chains of command is so boring. I get it in real life, who handles what and to whom they report, but the abstract description in this textbook makes me want to nap.

I peek out of my apartment and find Tobias standing in the hall.

"Come in," I welcome him as I slide the chain lock and open the door.

He enters and stands just inside the door. His weight shifts from one foot to the other and back, and he has yet to look directly at me.

"Tobias?" I ask. "Is something wrong?"

"No," he assures me, making eye contact for a brief second. "I just want to talk to you about something. I know this is weird and I don't want to add any more stress when you already have your test coming up and Peter's trial. I don't want to make it awkward, which is exactly what I'm doing…"

I cut off his rambling with a raised hand. "Tobias, stop. I told you what I put in my report on the incident. It's unlikely that your name will come up at all. Plus, if it does I'm willing to fight to protect you. I don't think you did anything wrong in not reporting the attack."

This time he cuts me off. "That's um, that's not why I'm here. I mean I appreciate you looking out for me and I'm sorry you have to go through this, but I'm not here to talk about Peter."

"Oh," is all I can manage. I feel dread take root in my stomach. Tobias and I are just finding our footing as friends. I really hope he isn't going to mess that up by trying to get back together with me.

"Listen Tobias-" I begin.

"Actually, I-" he says at the same time.

We both stop and smile awkwardly. "Go ahead," I encourage him.

He shuffles his feet, then takes in a deep breath and blurts out, "I met someone."

"Oh." The single word pops out of my mouth unbidden.

"I just don't want this to be weird, so I wanted you to hear it from me first."

"I appreciate that," I say. "I'm happy for you. Who is she?"

"Her name is Tiffany," he smiles and blushes slightly. It's cute to see him smitten like this. "She was an Amity transfer the year between us. She works in the ice cream and coffee shop in the pit."

"Redhead?" I ask. "Cute? Always smiling?"

"Yeah," he says, his blush deepening. "Shauna set us up."

"Tobias," I encourage him, "please look at me." He looks up and I smile at him. "I'm really happy for you. Tiffany is really sweet. I want you to be happy. I want you to move on and find someone. We had a good relationship and parted on good terms. I'm glad we can still be friends, and I hope she'll be okay with hanging out with us. I promise I won't make it weird if I can help it."

He grins at my answer, and I can see how his face beams with joy. He really likes this girl. And from the bottom of my heart I am genuinely happy for him. There was a time in my life when I thought Tobias and I would be together forever and that I could never be happy without him. Yet here we are moving on, and other than an echo of nostalgia, it doesn't even hurt.

"Thanks Tris," he says, heading toward the door.

"Hey Tobias," I call after him, "she's going to want to know your real name pretty early on. Don't shut her out. You don't have to tell her your whole life story right away, but don't snap at her for asking. It's a normal thing to wonder about. Okay?"

"Okay," he says as he walks toward the elevator. "Thanks again."

I wave at Tobias and think of Eric. He did so much to help me get through those first awkward days after Tobias and I broke up. I try to shrug off the feeling of longing and head back to my apartment to bury myself in a fresh pot of coffee and my studies.

.

xxxx

.

I'm at my desk, unpacking my bag lunch on Tuesday when Max pops his head in my door.

"Hey, Tris, do you have a minute?" he asks.

"Sure Max," I wave him in.

He declines the seat I point to. "I won't stay long," he assures me, "I just need to talk to you about the test and the trial."

I sigh. Having both land in the same week is overwhelming when I let myself stop and think about it.

"Now, you were scheduled to take the leadership final on Thursday, but since Candor scheduled the trial for Friday, I want to give you the option to take the test next week. If the trial is weighing on your mind it's perfectly okay to put off the test for a few days. It's up to you."

"I appreciate your thoughtfulness," I say to my boss, "but I think I want to get it over with. Preparing for the test has kept my mind occupied. I think I want to finish it up, face the trial on Friday, and then sleep for a few days."

Max laughs. "That can be arranged. No matter what happens you'll have the weekend off to recover. If you change your mind and want to move the test, just let me know."

"Thanks Max," I say.

"No problem," he says on his way out of my office.

I turn back to my bag lunch, but am interrupted again, this time by a buzz from the receptionist.

"Yes, Kyle?"

"Christina is here to see you."

I wonder what brings my best friend down here when she should be at work.

"Send her in," I say into the phone.

Christina bursts through my office door, clearly upset.

"It's gone!" she wails.

"Wait. Chris, what's gone?"

"I'm so sorry. It was there yesterday and this morning it was gone. One of the dependents working yesterday evening sold it. I don't even know who it was."

"Christina, slow down. I'm really confused here. What's gone?"

"The jacket," she says forlornly.

"My jacket?" I question. I hold out a tiny shred of hope that she's talking about something else, but in my gut I know. My jacket is gone.

Christina nods and a tear trickles down her cheek.

"Oh Chris, don't cry." Inside I'm torn up over the loss, but I don't want Christina to feel bad. It isn't her fault.

"It's just a jacket," I say, "I guess it wasn't meant to be."

"But you looked so good in it," she laments, "and it meant so much to you!"

I manage to keep up the facade until Christina goes back to work, then I lay my head on my desk and cry.

.

xxxx

.

Eric cancels our training again on Wednesday morning. He hasn't been in the office much this week, either. I think he's involved in the trial preparations at Candor, but no one talks to me about that; they all want me to focus on the test first. I spend part of the day with Veronica, who quizzes me and assures me that I'll do just fine.

Christina, Shauna, Marlene, and Lynn bring me a pizza and ice cream for dinner. We relax and gossip while eating too much junk, and I kick them out early so I can get a good night's sleep. But sleep won't come. I'm too full of sugar and keyed up over the test and the trial. Around midnight I make hot tea with a splash of milk. After that I doze for a while, then wake up in a panic thinking I've overslept, but it's only 3:00 AM. I try a warm bath. It relaxes me enough that I'm finally able to get a couple hours of good sleep before my alarm goes off.

I dress in something casual but professional - dark skinny jeans tucked into my Dauntless-issued combat boots, a short-sleeved black tunic top, and a long chain with a pendant of the Dauntless symbol that my friends gave me for good luck. I pull my long hair into a ponytail so it will be out of the way. Grabbing a yogurt and a water bottle on my way out the door, I head to the leadership wing. The receptionist, Kyle, is waiting in the lobby with Max, Veronica, Harrison, and Eric.

Kyle gives me a quick hug and a word of encouragement. Max and Harrison are grinning ear-to-ear. It's obvious they're confident I'll do well. Veronica reaches for my hand and leads me past a stray chair in the hallway to one of the conference rooms. Today it is set up with a single seat at the large conference table. Across the room, two other chairs are set up.

Max motions for me to sit at the table and hands me several sharpened pencils and an answer sheet.

"Tris, you have two hours to complete the leadership exam. It consists of 50 multiple choice questions and two essays. You may not leave the room during the test. Harrison and I will be here to observe you. Eric will be stationed in the hallway, and Veronica and Kyle will be out in the lobby. We will ensure that you are not bothered during the exam. When you are finished, or at the end of the two hours, your test will be graded. You will have the rest of the day off, in fact you won't be back in the office until Monday, when you begin work as a full Dauntless leader. I have full confidence in you. You've got this, Tris. Do you have any questions?"

I shake my head.

"Piece of cake," says Harrison, taking his seat across the room.

"Good luck," says Veronica on her way out the door.

Eric gives me a real smile that lights up his face and warms my heart before he, too, leaves the room.

Max sets the exam paper in front of me and says, "Go ahead and begin."

I dive right in, filling in the little dots that represent my answer. A computer will grade the multiple choice portion of the test, reading the little dots in an instant. I finish that portion in about 45 minutes and move on the essays. The questions aren't hard, but I take my time, think through my answers, and put forth my best effort.

I finish the test with twenty minutes to spare. Max and Harrison grin at me when I turn in my papers.

"How was it?" Harrison asks.

"Not bad," I say. "I think the studying paid off."

"I'm sure you did great," says Max. "I'm going to take this for scoring. We'll let you know how you did as soon as we can."

I thank them as we leave the room. They head down the hall toward their offices, and I turn the other way to exit the leadership wing. Eric is still waiting in the hall.

"How did it go?" he asks, his voice a deep rumble that shakes my insides.

"Good, I guess," I reply.

"Can I buy you lunch?" he asks.

"I'd like that," I say with a small smile, "but I got no sleep last night and I really don't have an appetite. I was kind of looking forward to going home for a nap."

"How about dinner, then, once you've had a chance to rest?"

"I'd love to," I say, "in the cafeteria? Or did you want to try your hand at more Abnegation cooking?"

Eric smiles at me. "Actually I was thinking about the restaurant in the pit. Have you been there?"

"I have not," I say. "I could never justify paying for dinner when the cafeteria was right there."

Eric laughs, "this is nothing like the cafeteria, I assure you."

"Will I need to dress up?" I ask, suddenly unsure of myself.

"You look fine just how you are," Eric assures me, "but you can dress up a little if you feel like it."

We enter the lobby together and I'm bombarded by Veronica and Kyle, both eager to hear how the test went. I assure them that I did okay, and they both hug me before letting me go. Eric follows me out of the leadership wing, and we find a group of my friends waiting in the hall. Everyone is there - Zeke, Uriah, Christina, Will, Shauna, Marlene, and Lynn. Even Tobias is there with Tiffany by his side.

"There she is!" yells Zeke.

"Trissy!" squeals Uriah. "How was it?"

Suddenly everyone is clamoring to talk at once. I raise both hands to stop their chattering voices.

"Thank you guys for being here. It means a lot to me. The test went okay. I won't get my results for a while yet, but I feel good about it. I'm going home for some lunch and a nap, but on Saturday, once the trial is out of the way, I want us all to get together and party. What do you say? Party at my place on Saturday night?"

My friends cheer and after another round of hugs they disperse back to their jobs and homes. Soon just Eric and I are standing in the hall.

"Can I walk you home?" he asks. The simple words release a flood of memories from my childhood in Abnegation. There walking a girl home from a day of volunteering together is the first formal step in forming a courting relationship. Eric can't possibly know that, but it makes me smile anyway.

"I'd like that," I say.

We walk to the leadership housing area, and Eric holds the door to my apartment so I can walk in.

"Is 6:00 okay for dinner?" he asks.

"6:00 is good for me," I say. That will give me plenty of time for a quick lunch and a long nap.

"I'll see you later then," he says on his way out.

A long nap and a shower later I'm a new person. I put on my same tunic, but pair it with an above-the-knee skirt covered in dull black sequins. I wear the same Dauntless symbol necklace, but exchange my combat boots for a pair of black flats. I wear my hair down long and add just a touch of makeup.

As I examine my face in the mirror, I consider getting a piercing. I haven't gotten any yet because I was afraid that during initiation or leadership training a fresh piercing would create a painful weakness that an opponent could exploit. I've wanted to have my ear lobes pierced forever, and lately I've been in love with the idea of a tragus piercing. I'll be getting my leadership tattoos soon if I passed the test, and I have an idea to add dermals to the top of the leadership ladder, just to add a bit of sparkle.

Promptly at 6:00 there is a knock at my door. I crack it open and find Eric carrying a large box.

"What is that?" I ask.

"Can I come in?" he asks around the cumbersome package.

I hold open the door and he sets the box on my kitchen island.

"This is for you," he says.

I'm dumbfounded. I have very little experience in receiving gifts and the attention and expectation makes me squirm.

"Why?" I ask.

"Open it first, then I'll explain," says Eric with a grin.

Tentatively I begin removing the brown paper wrapping from the box. I lift the lid, and right on top is a blue piece of fabric. I pull it out of the box and see that it's a black and blue plaid skirt, Erudite schoolgirl style, Dauntless short. I can't help but laugh, and Eric does too.

"Okay," he says, "that part's a joke. The real gift is underneath."

I lift a couple layers of tissue paper, and find my leather jacket. The very one I have been staring at. The one I planned to buy myself when I made leadership. I'm speechless.

"I was just going to bring you flowers," Eric says, "but I ran into Max on my way out of the office and he passed along some good news. You passed. You're a full Dauntless leader now."

I still can't speak, and I start trembling.

"Are you okay?" Eric asks, panicked. "Do you need to sit down?"

I shake my head and close my gaping mouth.

"I'm fine," I insist. "Eric, I just - I don't -"

Eric chuckles. "Why don't you try it on," he suggests.

I nod and pull the soft leather garment from the box. Eric holds it for me as I slide it on. It's as perfect as I remember.

"How did you know?" I ask.

"I've seen you going in there on hard days. At first I thought you were just visiting Christina, but one day you went when she wasn't working, and I saw you staring at it. I decided then that I would get it for you when you finished leadership training."

"But it's so expensive," I protest, still rubbing my hands down the smooth surface in awe.

"Don't worry about that," he says, "you deserve it."

Impulsively I throw my arms around Eric. He returns my hug, pulling me close to his chest.

I pull back, blushing. "I have something for you, too." I say shyly, "for being my trainer."

"You didn't need to do that," Eric scolds, "I was just doing my job."

"You did so much more than your job," I laugh. "Plus, it's not a big, expensive thing. Just a little thank you gift."

"Is it blue plaid?" Eric teases.

"You'll see," I call to him as I go into my spare bedroom.

I bring out a paper bag from the Dauntless liquor store and hand it to Eric. He pops one eyebrow inquisitively.

"It's not that cinnamon junk, is it?" he teases.

"You'll have to see," I tease back.

He reaches into the bag and pulls out a deep green box. On the cover is the name of a scotch brand, and Eric pulls a bottle out of the box.

"Wow," he says, "this is good stuff, even better than what I brought over here that one night. How did you find it?"

"I went to the liquor store and asked about scotch," I say. "They had this available, so I got it for you."

"That's really nice, Tris, thank you so much."

"You're welcome," I blush.

For a minute we just stare at each other. Eric breaks the silence.

"So, dinner?"

"Right," I say, snapping out of my trance. "Dinner."

For the next two hours I forget all about tests and the trial coming up tomorrow and just enjoy a delicious steak dinner with Eric, complete with a shared bottle of red wine. We laugh about things that happened at work, and talk about the seasons, our families, and childhood memories.

I learn that Eric's parents are still in Erudite. They didn't have anything to do with Jeanine, though she was a distant cousin of Eric's mother. He talks about his younger sister and how hard it was to leave her when he chose Dauntless. But he's Dauntless through and through, and he knew that he had to be honest with himself and choose the faction where he had the best chance of succeeding.

I tell him about my parents and Caleb, and the simple life we shared in Abnegation. I talk about volunteering with the factionless, and about how hard it was for me to blend in and be selfless in the way Abnegation taught.

"I have a hard time seeing you as Abnegation," he says, "I'll bet you stood out there like a bonfire in the dark."

"I'll admit it was a bad fit," I laugh, "but It was all I knew, so I made it work. I only realized just how bad it was when I got here. I always wanted the freedom of Dauntless."

"Is it everything you hoped?" he asks, his eyes staring intently into mine.

"And more," I answer.

After dinner, which Eric insisted on paying for, he informs me that there's one more surprise. We walk across the pit together, straight to Tori's tattoo shop. The frosted glass doors are closed, and a sign on the door informs us that the parlor is closed for the evening. Eric taps on the glass and Tori opens the door with a smile.

"Tris!" she exclaims, "congratulations on passing your test!"

She envelopes me in a hug, and I return the affection. Tori feels like an aunt to me. She has been there during some hard times, and I appreciate her wisdom, guidance, and friendship. Her partner, Bud, hugs me next, and as we walk past the lobby to the workstations, I see Max with his wife Carissa, Harrison and his wife Debbie, and Veronica waiting for us. They cheer when they see me, and Max pops the cork on a bottle of champagne. I blush deeply at the unexpected attention, and take a step back, straight into Eric's broad chest. He rests his hands on my shoulders, steadying me.

"Have you thought about where you want to put your leadership tattoos?" asks Tori.

"Where do you guys have yours?" I ask the other leaders.

Max lifts the back of his shirt, revealing the familiar ladders on either side of his spine. Harrison reveals his on his calves. Veronica has hers up her sides. Eric, of course, wears his right on his neck.

"I was thinking about the inside of my forearms," I tell them. "Maybe because I'm young, and a woman, or maybe it's because I'm small, but I really want my leadership tattoos visible."

"That's a good spot," confirms Tori. "Not super painful, so Bud and I can each do an arm at the same time."

The leadership team agrees, and Tori prints the stencils in my size. The tattoos will run from near my elbow creases up to my wrists on both arms. When the stencils are in place and approved by everyone, I take a seat in the reclining chair and lay out my arms on wide armrests that hold them where Bud and Tori can easily work on them.

The steady buzz of the tattoo guns drowns out the conversation of my fellow leaders. At first the sound is soothing, but then the artists get to work on my arms, and the pain of the needles makes me tense again. The forearm isn't a painful place for a tattoo. Eric's neck tattoo or Tobias' ribcage pieces would have been much worse, but having both arms tattooed at the same time is a lot.

I try to keep a brave face, but I catch Eric watching me with concern in his eyes. As the artists get closer to my elbow creases, the pain intensifies. Eric must know this, because he comes to stand by my chair, and places a comforting hand on my bare ankle, rubbing small circles with his warm thumb. I try to focus on his soothing touch instead of the clawing sting of the tattoo needles.

When Bud and Tori finish their work and the leadership team expresses their approval, Tori covers my tattoos and hands me a new jar of healing salve.

"Keep it covered until you go to bed tonight," she instructs me. "After that, keep it moisturized with the salve until it's healed. Come back here if you have any problems or need any touch-ups. You know the drill."

I thank Bud and Tori and accept my glass of champagne from Max. As the artists clean up the shop for the night, we leaders make our way to the bar, where Max has reserved the VIP room for us. Being a Thursday night, the bar isn't very busy. I find myself on a sofa next to Eric, enjoying a chance to get to know Max and Harrison's wives.

A few drinks later I'm feeling nice and relaxed from the alcohol and Eric's arm around my shoulders. The adrenaline from the tattooing is fading at the same time, and I start to nod off. I'm jolted awake by the low rumble of Eric's voice close to my ear.

"I need to get you home before you fall asleep and everyone thinks you're passed out drunk."

I giggle, clearly a little tipsy, and take the hand he offers me. We bid our goodnights to the other leaders. I'll see them tomorrow at the trial, with the exception of Harrison, who will stay behind as the designated leader on duty. As we leave the bar, Eric doesn't let go of my hand, but holds on to it all the way back to our apartments.

At my door, Eric stops and waits as I let myself in. I turn to say goodnight and find that his broad chest is just inches from me. I look up, into his molten grey eyes, and my breath catches in my throat. It feels like slow motion as he reaches out and tucks a stray piece of hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering all the way down the silky strand.

I brace myself by placing a hand on Eric's chest. His taut muscles twitch under my hand, causing me to shudder. Feeling brave, I let my hand wander up to his neck where I trace the lines of his leadership tattoo gently. Goosebumps raise on Eric's neck, and he brings his hands to my shoulders to ground himself. For a minute we just stand there, close together, breathing the same air.

Eric breaks the spell by leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on my forehead. His throat is at my eye level, and I notice his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallows. I'm tempted to tip my head up and kiss his throbbing pulsepoint, but I chicken out and pull away instead.

Eric slides his hands from my shoulders all the way down my arms to my hands, careful not to put any pressure on my fresh tattoos. He squeezes my hands and looks into my eyes.

"Goodnight, Tris," he says, a hint of regret in his voice.

"Goodnight, Eric," I say in a soft voice.

.

xxxx

.

 **A/N: In a moment of "get to know you're author," I thought I'd tell you that I have a tragus piercing and tattoos on my left wrist and right forearm. I didn't get them done at the same time, though. My wrist was virtually painless. My forearm wasn't bad either. In fact, I almost fell asleep until the artist got near my elbow crease. Then it got painful! My artist and I are currently working on sketches for my left forearm, and that piece will include a dermal piercing once it's healed.**

 **In real life people don't fit into categories as cleanly as they do in Divergent's Chicago, but I would say that I grew up Abnegation (my father is a minister), married a blue-wearing Erudite engineer with two master's degrees, and have been getting more Dauntless as I get older. In the past year I got my second tattoo, a tragus piercing, and went ziplining for the first time. I've also been adding some bold color in my hair. Just having fun bringing more color into my life!**


	10. Chapter 10: Trial and Tribulation

I sleep surprisingly well considering the upcoming trial. I'm sure the rich dinner, drinks, and adrenaline crash after my new tattoos play a part in that. With no commitments in the morning, I plan to sleep in, but old habits die hard, and I'm awake almost as early as usual.

Rifling through my closet I feel completely overwhelmed about what I should wear to the trial. I decide that a visit to Christina, who is supposed to be opening at the clothing store, will solve that problem, so I throw on something comfortable and head down to the pit.

I don't find Christina at the store, and her coworker tells me that she took the day off to attend the trial at Candor. I make my way to her apartment and knock quietly in case she's sleeping in. She answers the door almost immediately.

"Hey, Tris!" she says. It's obvious that she has had her coffee already this morning, because she is usually quite crabby in the morning.

"So you took the day off?" I ask.

"Yeah," says Christina. "I wanted to be there for you at the trial. Will is only working until noon so he can go, too. Uriah and the other ambassadors are going because they have to represent Dauntless. Zeke is staying here with Four, and Shauna and Marlene are on duty. I don't know if Lynn is going."

I can't help but smile at how thoughtful my friends are.

"That's kind of why I was looking for you," I tell Christina. "I don't know what to wear."

"You came to the right place," says Christina with a grin.

She runs back to her bedroom and gathers a huge bag of clothing and god knows what else, then practically drags me back to my place.

"Okay," she says, throwing clothes out of my closet, "what are you thinking?"

"Short sleeves," I say. "I got my leadership tattoos and I want them to show."

"What!?" Christina squeals. "When did this happen? Did you get your test results already?"

"Yesterday. Eric came and got me for dinner and told me, then the other leaders met us at Tori's after dinner and we had drinks after I got my tattoos."

Remembering Eric's gift I run out of the room.

"Tris?" calls Christina.

"Hold on," I yell back. "I have the best news."

"Better than your test results?" she asks.

"Okay, maybe not better than that," I respond coyly as I return to the bedroom sporting my new leather jacket in place of the hoodie I had been wearing.

Christina screams. Literally screams. "Oh my god, Tris! What? How? Where did it come from? Were you messing with me making me think it was gone?"

"No," I assure her. "In fact I cried over it after you left my office the other day. Eric bought it for me. He had seen me visiting it at your shop and bought it as a congratulations gift. He gave it to me last night when he brought the news that I passed my test."

"He so likes you," she says knowingly.

Just then we're interrupted by my apartment door bursting open.

"Tris!" calls a panicked voice.

I rush out to the living room and find Eric standing there shirtless, wearing only a pair of jeans. There's shaving cream residue on the edge of his jaw.

"What happened?" I ask, startled by the sudden intrusion.

"I heard you scream," he says as he catches his breath.

"Christina, get out here!" I yell. "You owe my neighbor an apology!"

Sheepishly, Christina peeks her head out from my bedroom.

"Sorry, Eric," she says. "I got kind of excited and squealed."

"Squealed?" he asks. "That was a full-on scream. I thought Tris was in trouble." I watch his muscles tighten as fear hardens into anger.

"Sorry," she repeats, shrugging her shoulders and ducking back into my bedroom.

I approach him carefully, and place a hand on his bicep. I resist the urge to stroke the planes of his muscular arm, and lean in close to his ear conspiratorially.

"Now do you see why I can't give her my spare key?" I ask quietly so Christina won't hear me.

Eric laughs, his tension evaporating. He pulls me into a tight hug and sighs.

"I'm glad you're okay," he says finally.

Suddenly realizing my face is pressed into Eric's bare chest, I pull back, blushing. Eric chuckles again.

"You're wearing the jacket," he says in a low voice, reaching out to stroke the supple leather on my arm.

I nod. "That's actually why Christina screamed. She was so upset the other day when the jacket was gone from her store that she cried about it. She got a little excited when she found out I that you bought it for me."

"A _little_ excited?" he chuckles. "I'm going to finish getting dressed now. I'll come get you at 1:00 if that's okay with you. Max wants us to travel to Candor together. He has a car for the leaders."

I nod in response, and he drops a kiss on my forehead before leaving the apartment.

As soon as I walk back into my bedroom, Christina gives me a knowing look.

"I told you he likes you," she says confidently.

I roll my eyes at her. "Enough teasing. Dress me, oh fashion guru."

We settle on black skinny jeans, my combat boots, and a short-sleeved black sheer top with a black camisole under it. It showcases my leadership tattoos, and my raven tattoo shows faintly through the sheer material. Christina fixes my makeup with strong black eyeliner and a neutral lip. I feel strong and confident.

Christina convinces me to grab a quick lunch in the cafeteria with her and Will. I get a lot of stares, but my between my jacket and knowing my leadership tattoos are under there, I feel confident. Let them stare. After today this whole Peter mess will be behind me, and I'll be a leader of this faction.

Christina hugs me before she and Will leave to catch the train to Candor. I briefly wonder if she's nervous about going back to her old faction, and if she'll see her parents or sister.

Walking back to my apartment, I find Tobias and Tiffany standing in the hall outside my door.

"Tris!" he calls as I step out of the elevator. "I was afraid we missed you."

I shake my head. "I just had lunch with Chris and Will. Eric is picking me up in a few minutes."

"I just wanted to check with you one last time. Are you sure it's okay that I'm not going to be at the trial?"

"Four," I begin, not sure if I should call him Tobias in front of Tiffany yet, "not only am I okay with it, but I think it's actually for the best. I want to keep you out of this as much as possible. Between Peter's confession and my report I think we can do that. Try to relax and I'll check in with you as soon as I get back from Candor. Okay?"

"Actually, Zeke managed to patch us into Candor's security feed, so we'll be watching the trial in the control room," he says.

"You can do that?" I ask, wondering who else will be observing me today.

Tobias shrugs, "Zeke is a goofball, but he's a whiz with technology. He connected to their camera feed. No one else can do this, that we know of. It will just be the three of us watching from here. You don't mind, do you?"

"No, To -, um, Four. I actually don't mind as long as it's just you guys. It'll spare me from having to talk about it later and I can just go home and crash."

"That's exactly what you're going to do," comes a deep, firm voice from down the hall. "When this is behind you I'm making sure you get a chance to rest, and no one will be allowed to disturb you."

"Hey Eric," I greet him. Tobias nods and Eric returns the gesture.

Eric comes down the hall and puts an arm around my shoulders.

"I'm still not happy with you, Eaton," he addresses Tobias. I notice Tiffany has no reaction to hearing Tobias' surname, so I assume he has told her at least that much about his past. "You were in charge of the initiates and you knew about the attack. It was your responsibility to file a report and see that jackass removed from Dauntless. He nearly killed Tris and you just let him get away with it."

"Eric, stop," I say firmly. "We've been over this. Four wanted to file the report, but I wouldn't let him. Let it go."

"I'll let it go when justice is served," Eric replies, still staring at Tobias. "Until then I just wanted to say my piece."

"For what it's worth," Tobias says in a contrite voice, "you're right. I should have insisted on reporting it. I should have done my duty as a trainer. After everything my father put me through I should have been the one to move heaven and earth to get a jerk like Peter the punishment he deserved. I let Tris' pleading sway me. I'm thankful every day that Peter didn't come back for Tris or hurt anyone else, and I want to see him pay for this as much as anyone, if not more."

Tiffany wraps an arm around Tobias and begins rubbing his back. I guess she knows all about his past since he mentioned his father's abuse in front of her.

"Well, we all said our piece," I say in my firmest voice, trying to move things along. "Now let's go to Candor and see that Peter, and _only_ Peter, pays for what he did. Eric, I believe Max is waiting for us."

"Thank you, Tris," says Tiffany.

I look right in her eyes, smile, and say, "I'll do my best."

.

xxxx

.

From the moment we leave the hall outside our apartments, Eric is stuck to my side like glue, offering silent support to me, and intimidating glares to anyone who approaches us. We walk down to the Dauntless garage and climb into a black SUV. Max sits in the front with the driver, and I'm seated between Veronica and Eric in the back seat.

When we arrive at Candor, Max leads us into the building while Eric and Veronica flank me. The five faction ambassadors, including Uriah, walk behind us. We make quite the intimidating spectacle with our tattoos, piercings, black leather, and scowling faces. We march en masse to the elevator bank, then divide into two groups to take the lifts to the top floor and Candor's largest courtroom. Once both elevators arrive, we get back into formation and march into the courtroom with military precision. It's an incredible show of strength, and in spite of my growing anxiety I feel safe in the middle of this group of Dauntless leaders.

The courtroom is a semi-circle with raised rows of chairs that allow the audience to see everything, even from the back of the room. At the front of the room is a platform with a single chair, and an elevated desk with an image of the Candor scales on its face. Between the audience and the stage are two tables, with two rows of chairs behind each. Max leads us to the first table, which is labeled "Plaintiff." Max, Eric, Veronica, and I all sit at the table while our faction ambassadors fill the row behind us. I see Christina, Will, and Lynn in the first row of the audience, directly behind the ambassadors.

The second table is labeled "Defendant," and the only person seated there is a young Candor lawyer in a black suit, white dress shirt, and black and white tie. An older couple sits in the row directly behind him, and the woman is sniffling and dabbing at her eyes. They must be Peter's parents, who live here in Candor.

Promptly at 2:00, Candor's head leader, Jack Kang, enters the room. Everyone in the room collectively stands to their feet. Kang steps up onto the platform and says, "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Candor criminal court, the honorable William J. Peterson presiding."

At this, an older man in a long black robe enters from a side door and takes his place up front at the elevated desk. "Be seated," he calls, "and bring in the jury."

We take our seats as a group of twelve Candor men and women file in from another side door and take their seats in a box to the side of the judge.

"Bring in the accused," Judge Peterson calls once the jury is settled.

Two Dauntless and two Candor guards enter the room with Peter. He is dressed a shapeless outfit that looks like hospital scrubs. They're a black and white print, I notice, but from a distance appear to be grey. How fitting. Candor wants everything to be black and white, right and wrong. But as the accused, they have yet to decide which side Peter belongs on. Until that's determined he's in a grey area, and Candor can't tolerate grey areas.

Peter is seated at the table with the young Candor lawyer in the black suit, and the four guards sit in the row behind him, with his parents.

"You may begin," the judge says to Jack Kang.

He nods. "Ladies and Gentlemen, today we will be hearing the case of Dauntless vs. Peter Hayes. Hayes is accused of two counts of assault and one count of attempted murder. Mr. Hayes, how do you plead?"

"Not guilty," snaps Peter.

With his claim of innocence comes a sudden realization that Peter could get away with this and come back to Dauntless looking for vengeance. My breathing becomes shallow and the courtroom swirls around me in a grey fog. Eric notices my panic and grabs my hand under the table. His other arm wraps around to my back and he begins rubbing it comfortingly. Veronica, seated on my other side, pushes a glass of water toward me. I take a small sip and a deep breath.

Kang admits into evidence Peter's taped confession, which is played for everyone in the courtroom. His words are slurred, but clear enough, and it's terrifying the way his eyes light up when he brags about attacking Edward with a butter knife, and laughs about getting Al and Drew to help him throw me over the chasm. Eric and Veronica lean in close during this part, and at one point I feel Uriah's hand on my back. Max glances at me as the video ends, and I nod my head and sit up straighter.

The next thing Kang presents is my written version of the events surrounding my attack. I hear whispers and even some gasps as the details are read, but I keep my head up and bite my lip to control its quivering as I fight tears.

"Does Dauntless have anything to add?" asks Kang.

Max looks at me and I shake my head. "No," he says in the strong voice of a confident leader.

"Very well," continues Kang. "The next step is to question the accused under truth serum. Mr. Hayes please come sit on the stage."

Peter complies, looking defiant in spite of his prison uniform and bound hands. The Candor leader injects Peter with a green serum, and a minute later his shoulders slump and his eyes become glassy.

"Please state your name for the record," says Kang.

"Peter Hayes."

"To which faction were you born?"

"Candor."

"Which faction did you choose for yourself?"

"Dauntless."

"Thank you, Mr. Hayes," Kang continues. "You are accused of assaulting another initiate by stabbing him in the eye with a butter knife. Did you do this?"

"Yes," says Peter through gritted teeth. "That stupid bastard…"

"That's enough, Mr. Hayes," Kang scolds. "Just answer the questions, nothing more. You are also accused of assaulting Tris Prior. Did you do this?"

"Yes," Peter growls. "The stupid bitch was going to beat me by sleeping her way to the top."

"Mr. Hayes," snaps Kang, "I'll remind you again to answer the question without including your personal feelings. Tell me about the night you assaulted Miss Prior."

Peter tells his story: goading Drew and Al into helping him, waiting for their opportunity, following me into the hall, and the attack itself. Every word comes through gritted teeth as Peter tries and fails to fight the serum.

"Mr. Hayes," Kang asks when Peter's monologue ends, "what happened to your accomplices, Drew and Al?"

"Drew became factionless when he failed initiation, and Al killed himself, the pansy," says Peter.

A woman in the back of the courtroom sobs loudly. I peek over my shoulder and see Al's mother, whom I recognize from visiting day all those months ago. Her cry reverberates in my soul and tears roll down my cheeks as well. I wonder if his parents were informed of his death, or if this is the first they've heard about it. Veronica hands me a box of tissues as Eric resumes rubbing gentle circles into my back.

The judge bangs a wooden hammer on his desk. "Order, please," he calls out, and the courtroom quiets again.

Jack Kang resumes his questioning. "Mr. Hayes, when you and your accomplices attacked Miss Prior, was it your intention to kill her?"

"Yes," Peter spits. "I told that dumb lug Al that we were just going to scare her, to give her something to be afraid of and screw up her sim times, but I wanted her dead."

"Mr. Hayes, before I administer the antidote, do you have anything to say in your defense?"

"Yes," says Peter in a much easier voice. "I was the best initiate Dauntless had. Edward ranked first because he fought dirty, and I wasn't going to take it. The stiff ranked above me even though I was a much better fighter because she was sleeping with our trainer. He adjusted her sim times to bump her past me. I was defending myself and ridding Dauntless of corruption.

On top of that, the video confession you showed was a total setup. I was out drinking with my friends and that bitch decided to flex her muscle as a "leader in training" and have me locked up because I told the truth about what a pansy Al was. I don't remember saying the things in that video. I think it was a setup!"

Rage washes through my body. Not only is Peter saying this crap to defend himself, but he actually believes it. I take several deep breaths and another sip of water, trying to collect myself as the antidote is administered to Peter and he returns to his table.

"Max," Kang addresses our leader, "would you care to address Mr. Hayes' accusations against your faction?"

"Certainly," says Max, jumping to his feet. "First of all, Peter Hayes was by far not our best initiate this year. If we compared both transfer and Dauntless-born initiates, he was fourth or fifth after the first phase, and significantly lower after that. Secondly, if an initiate felt that something in training was being handled unfairly, they should have come to a trainer or faction leader with their concerns. Assault is unacceptable no matter how the assailant feels. Third, Miss Prior's simulation times were not manually entered, with one exception when a computer overheated, so there is no way they could be manipulated, even if she had been unfairly favored by her trainers. Fourth, Mr. Hayes' lockup on the night of his confession was completely warranted. Miss Prior called on security because Hayes was trying to start a fight. When he was taken to the detox hold, a breathalyzer test was done, and he blew .1%, well above the legal limit, which proves that his lockup was beyond justified. Surveillance cameras show that Hayes was alone from the time he was locked in his cell until the next morning, so the confession caught on camera could not have been provoked by anyone in Dauntless."

"Defense, do you have anything to add?" asked Kang.

"No," says the young lawyer, completely defeated by Peter's testimony and Max's statement.

"Dauntless, do you have anything to add?"

Max glances at me, and I shake my head. "No," he states.

"Then ladies and gentlemen I rest this case," says Kang.

"Thank you, Mr. Kang," says the judge. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you will be taken into the jury room to deliberate on the guilt of innocence of Peter Hayes. You are to consider nothing but guilt or innocence on the three charges that have been presented here today. Guard, take them away."

A Candor guard leads the jury back into the door from which they came at the beginning of the trial.

"We are at recess until the jury returns with a verdict," says the judge, banging his hammer again.

"How are you doing?" Veronica asks quietly.

"Fine," I say, leaning in as she puts an arm around my shoulders. "I'm glad that part is over. Now they just need to come back with the guilty verdict so this can be over with."

"I'm confident they will," says Max, "and quickly, too. It's a pretty obvious case."

"I hope so," I say, afraid to believe that it will really be this easy.

Less than ten minutes pass when Jack Kang returns to the courtroom. Everyone stands again as he introduces the judge, and we sit as he calls in the jury.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" the judge asks.

"We have," they state in unison.

Jack Kang walks to the jury and receives a sheet of paper from a juror in the front row. He carries it to the judge who reads it aloud.

"We the jury find Peter Hayes guilty on all counts."

I sigh. The crowd cheers. Peter's mother sobs. The judge bangs his hammer again to silence everyone.

"Based on the evidence and the jury's verdict, I offer the following sentence: on the two counts of assault, which carry a maximum penalty of factionlessness, I sentence Mr. Hayes to factionlessness. On the count of attempted murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, I sentence Mr. Hayes to life in prison. Combining all three charges, I sentence Peter Hayes to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Court is adjourned."

With a final bang of the judge's hammer, it's over.

The audience applauds justice. Peter's mother continues crying as her husband drags her out of the courtroom. Peter himself is silent as he is led away, still shackled. I observe all these things at once as I am mobbed by my friends, fellow leaders, and well-wishing strangers. It's a wild blur of noise, motion, and hugs. All I can do is hold my head up and force a smile that probably looks more like a grimace.

Eventually Dauntless leadership works our way back to the elevators and out to the waiting cars. I cling to Eric's hand, letting him lead me out of the Merciless Mart and to the waiting SUV. He guides me into the back seat and climbs in behind me. I take in a shuddering breath and the world fades to black as I pass out.


	11. Chapter 11: Revelations

Eric's voice, enraged by fear, is the first thing to pierce my consciousness.

"Can't you go any faster!?" he yells.

I try to get his attention, but I'm too fatigued.

"She's coming around," I recognize Veronica's voice on my other side.

"Hot," I mumble. "Water."

Max passes a water bottle to Veronica, who opens it and helps me take a sip. Eric works my leather jacket off my shoulders, and Max opens his window a few inches and begins fanning me with some papers.

"I'm okay," I try to assure them.

Eric doesn't look convinced. "We're going right to the infirmary," he insists.

"Eric, no," I argue. "I just want to go home. All I need is rest. There's nothing wrong with me, I was just overwhelmed. Someone please tell me I held it together until we were in the car."

Veronica smiles and pats my hand. "You did," she assures me.

I grab Eric's hand and plead with my eyes. "I don't need the infirmary, please. I just need to rest. Please just take me home."

He looks concerned, but Max helps me out. "Son," he says in a soothing voice, "I think she's right. What she really needs is rest, and she can do that better at home than in the infirmary."

Eric's shoulders slump in defeat. "Under two conditions," he growls. "One, I'm sticking around to keep an eye on you. And two, any more fainting and I'm taking you straight to the infirmary."

I nod in agreement with his stipulations, and spend the last few minutes of our drive taking deep breaths and small sips of water. When we arrive in the Dauntless garage, I'm ready to face the walk back to my apartment.

Gratefully I take Eric's hand as he helps me exit the vehicle. Max pulls me into a fatherly hug.

"I need to get back to the office," he says. "I'll get Harrison caught up on everything. You get some rest, and let me know if you need anything."

I nod against his chest and he passes me into Veronica's arms.

"I have to go back to the office too, but I can walk you home if you need," she offers.

I shake my head. "I'm okay," I assure her. "Eric will walk with me and I'll be just fine."

She leaves down one hallway with Max as Eric and I head toward another. I turn to thank the driver and see the van of ambassadors pull into the garage.

"Let's hurry and get you out of here," says Eric, already glaring at the van.

I don't resist, but allow Eric to lead us through a maze of back hallways and staircases until we emerge in our own hall. He opens the door to my apartment and ushers me inside. Immediately I pry off my boots, hang up my jacket, and drop onto my couch.

"Would you like to lay down and take a nap?" Eric offers.

I shake my head. "I don't want to be alone," I admit in a small voice. "I want to stay with you."

He drops onto the couch beside me and gathers me into his arms like a frightened child.

"Brave girl," he consoles me, "you did so well today. It's all over now. Peter is gone, the test is over, and you can rest now."

I let myself relax into his comforting embrace and soothing words. Eric leans back and props his feet up, laying across my couch as I curl up on top of his chest with my feet tucked under his muscular legs. He continues to speak words of soothing and comfort as he runs his fingers through my hair until I fall asleep in his arms.

.

xxxx

.

I wake up on my couch alone, but the noises coming from my kitchen tell me that someone else is here too.

"Eric?" I call.

"Nope, its it's just me," says Christina from the kitchen. "Eric just ran home for a few minutes. He's going to be upset that you woke up when he was gone. Maybe you should pretend to be asleep when he gets back."

I laugh and haul myself off the couch.

"What time is it?" I ask Christina. "I'm hungry."

Christina beams at me. "I'm glad to hear that," she says. "Maybe Eric won't bite my head off if I'm feeding you when he gets back."

I settle myself at the kitchen island, and Christina slides a bowl of oatmeal in front of me. She offers sugar, but I've always eaten oatmeal plain. She hands me a mug of hot tea and a bowl of blueberries. I pop a few berries in my mouth between bites of oatmeal, and Christina grins at me.

"Keep eating," she encourages, "and I'll be Lover Boy's favorite person. Well, second favorite. I think you have the number one spot locked up."

I take a sip of tea, mostly to hide my blushing cheeks behind the mug. Just as I take another bite of oatmeal, my door rattles and Eric walks in carrying a large duffel bag.

"You're up," he says, dropping the bag and hurrying to my side.

"And I got her to eat," Christina boasts.

Eric smiles at her then turns to face me.

"Did you get enough? Can I bring you anything? How do you feel?"

"I'm fine," I insist. "I feel better, and Christina gave me plenty to eat. I'd like to change into something more comfortable, though."

"This is best friend territory," Christina declares. "I got this."

"No fair," Eric teases, making me blush again.

Christina pulls me into my room and I put on some lounge pants, a tee, and the huge sweatshirt Eric loaned me the day I ended up in the infirmary. I feel fine, just tired and cold, and I manage to get changed without help. I wash off my makeup, and we go back out to the living room where Eric is waiting.

"Do you really feel okay?" he asks, then smirks when he notices that I'm wearing his sweatshirt.

"I really do," I say. "I'm a little tired, but otherwise good. Today was hard, but it ended well."

Eric and Christina nod.

"I'm going to take off," says Christina. "I'll let our friends know you're feeling better, and maybe we'll see you tomorrow."

Eric and I thank her as she leaves.

"What's in the bag?" I ask, gesturing to the duffel he dropped when he came in.

"Clothes, a pillow, stuff like that," he says. "I told you I'm staying to keep an eye on you, so I brought what I need to move in to your second bedroom for the night."

"You don't need to do that," I say. "You should go home and get a good night's sleep. It was a long day for you, too."

"I'll sleep better knowing I'm nearby if you need me," he says.

I give in, and we spend the rest of the evening watching movies and eating Dauntless cake. When the movie ends, Eric gathers our dishes. We say goodnight and retire to our separate bedrooms.

.

xxxx

.

 _Al stands with his feet on the lower chasm rail. He lifts one leg over the top rail, straddling it, then swings his other leg over. He sits on the top rail and looks down at the rocks and rushing water. I watch him, wary, afraid to startle him._

 _Peter emerges from another hallway, quiet on his feet. Al doesn't hear him approaching over the sound of rushing water. He doesn't hear me scream, either. Peter reaches Al and with one quick shove he unseats the larger boy, sending him plummeting into the abyss._

 _"No!" I hear the cry of Al's mother beside me. "Why didn't you stop him?" Her sobs sound just as they did in the courtroom._

 _"I didn't know!" I sob back at her. "I didn't know until it was too late!"_

"Tris!" someone yells.

 _"No! Al, no!" I yell, covering my ears to drown out the sobs of his distraught mother._

"Tris, wake up! Wake up! You're dreaming, Baby, please wake up!"

I pry open my eyes and see Eric's face reflected in the dim light coming in from the hall.

"Tris, Baby, it's okay. It's not real. It's just a dream."

"It is real," I sob, burying my face in my hands.

Eric holds me as I cry. When I recover myself I ask the question that haunted me all day.

"Today, in court, when Peter said that Al killed himself? Was that the first time Al's family heard about what happened to him?"

"I doubt it," Eric soothes. "When an initiate doesn't get on the train, fails initiation, or dies before they're a full member, their faction of origin is notified. When Al died I filed a report on the incident, and Jack Kang was informed. What happens from there is up to the faction, but you know Candor is all about honesty and freedom of information. I'm sure Jack told Al's family. Today was just hard for them like it was hard for you. You already knew what happened, but it hurt to relive it."

"Eric," I groan, "I'm so tired of being weak and overwhelmed. I miss feeling brave and Dauntless."

"Tris, stop," he says. "You're entitled to a rough week and some down time. You were amazing in initiation and in leadership training. You just got worn down finishing training while dealing with this Peter crap. I promise no one thinks less of you. In fact, we're all really proud of the way you've handled all of this."

"Even you?" I ask timidly. "You've seen more of my weakness and breakdowns than anyone."

"Especially me," he says, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

I lean into his warm hand and close my eyes. Eric sighs in response and pulls me a little closer to his broad chest. I nuzzle into him, feeling his pulse accelerate as my face presses into his neck.

"Stay with me?" I whisper against his warm skin.

"Of course," he replies in a soft baritone.

He lays down on my bed, pulling me close so he's spooning me from behind. He pulls my down comforter over both of us and tucks my head under his chin.

"Tris," he breathes, "can I kiss you goodnight?"

I turn in his arms so we're face to face. He's so close that we're breathing the same warm air. I can't speak, so I press a kiss into his jaw, just below his chin. I feel the rasp of stubble against my lips and breathe in the woodsy, masculine smell that is unmistakably Eric.

He tips his chin down toward me and I lift my face to meet his. We pause for a moment and smile softly at each other. Then Eric closes the distance between us and presses his firm but supple lips to mine.

His lips taste sweet and familiar, like coming home after a long journey. I sigh into the kiss as our lips move against each other. We don't pull away until we're desperate for air.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time," he whispers.

"Me too," I admit. "What stopped you?"

"I heard you talking to Uriah one day, outside my office," Eric confesses. "You were telling him that you needed time, that you didn't want to be in a relationship until you proved that you could get through leadership training and do things on your own. So I decided to back off.

It was hard. Every day at training I had to resist the urge to touch you more than necessary or kiss you. That night you had everyone over for a movie I had to make an excuse to get away before you woke up and realized you fell asleep on me, though god knows I wanted nothing more than to stay and hold you while you slept.

That night when we got flirty eating ice cream on your couch I knew I had to keep my distance, or I was going to end up kissing you and ruin everything. I've missed you every day since then. Can I kiss you again?"

"You can kiss me anytime you want," I say, blushing.

The kiss starts out gentle, and grows in intensity. I part my lips slightly and Eric wastes no time slipping his tongue into my mouth. We explore each other's mouths with soft sighs. Eric wraps one arm around me, and the other gently caresses my cheek and down my neck. My hands find purchase on his sides, roaming down to his hips and back up, pulling myself closer as our lips meld.

When we separate, I drop my gaze. "I thought you didn't feel the same way I do," I admit. "You've been such a good friend, and I thought that was all you wanted. When you flirted with me I thought you were teasing me so I would blush."

"I do love when you blush," Eric says, dropping a kiss onto the crown of my head.

"You could do so much better," I whisper, suddenly thankful that the darkness hides the fear on my face.

"Better?" he questions, raising his voice. "What are you talking about?"

I tuck my chin down and wrap my arms around myself. "I know what I am and what you are. You're a legend, a hero. People respect you and girls go crazy for you. You could have anyone."

Eric tips my chin up, forcing me to look him in the eyes. "I don't want anyone else," he says firmly. "I want you."

Before I can object again, he plants his lips firmly on mine in a smoldering kiss.

"Let's get some sleep," he says, tucking me close to his warm body.


	12. Chapter 12: Going Public

I wake up slowly, warm and secure in Eric's arms. Snuggling in deeper, I can't stop the smile that splits my face. Eric's arms constrict, pulling my back tight to his chest.

"Morning," he mumbles, his voice rough from sleep.

"Good morning," I say in a small voice, suddenly shy.

Eric relaxes his arms and plants a tentative kiss on my cheek.

"Do you regret last night?" he asks.

There is an edge of anxiety in his voice, so I quickly turn to face him and plant a kiss on the underside of his chin. I pull back slightly so I can look him in the eyes.

"No," I say in a strong voice. "No regrets. I woke up smiling for a reason."

Eric sighs contentedly as I nuzzle into his neck, planting soft kisses on his warm flesh. He tips his face down and our lips meet. The kiss is soft and gentle, and we smile shyly as our lips part.

I wiggle out of Eric's arms and head toward the bathroom. I glance at the clock on my way and am surprised to see that it's already eleven am.

"It's almost time for lunch!" I say, shocked.

Eric chuckles. "You needed the rest. We both did."

"I'm going to get in the shower. Do you want to use the bathroom first?" I offer.

Eric hauls himself out of my bed, adjusting his pants. I blush and try not to stare.

"It's probably best if I go home and take a shower of my own. A cold shower."

My blush deepens, and I nod in agreement. Eric leaves as I slip into the bathroom. Through my whole shower, I can't wipe the grin off my face.

I can't believe Eric feels the same way I do. And his kisses?! So soft, and unexpectedly sweet and gentle, but with a barely controlled fire underneath. I shudder in spite of the warm water cascading over me. I can't wait to tap into that passion with my new...boyfriend? Can I call him that? That's a discussion we'll have to have, hopefully soon.

I finish showering, twist my still-wet hair into a braid, and throw on a comfortable outfit of leggings and a short-sleeved shirt that showcases all of my tattoos. I'm adding a touch of black eyeliner and some lip gloss when Eric returns.

"Tris?" he calls. "I'm back!"

"Almost done!" I yell back.

I walk out of the bedroom and find Eric looking entirely relaxed on my sofa. Resisting the urge to drop down with him for another amazing makeout session, I tug on his hand.

"Food," I say, attempting to pull his heavy, muscular body off my couch.

"Sounds like my girl is hungry," he says, lifting himself off the couch.

"Am I your girl?" I ask, biting on my lip as I wait for his answer.

"Do you want to be?" he asks, placing his hands on my shoulders.

"I don't know," I tease. "I'm so hungry I can't make any decisions right now."

Eric's mouth opens in shock, but he quickly recovers when he sees the smirk on my face. Suddenly he lifts me off the floor and throws me over his shoulder as if I weigh nothing at all.

"We better feed you," he says, hurrying us out of my apartment and slamming the door. "I need to hear you say you'll be mine as soon as possible."

"Eric!" I squeal. "Put me down!"

He complies, sliding me gently to the floor in front of him.

"Yes," I say. My cheeks are flushed and the world spins a little after being upside down.

"Yes what?" he says, as if not trusting his ears.

"Yes, I'll be your girl."

"No," he says with a smile. "Not my girl, my woman."

"Then yes, I'll be your woman. If you'll be my man."

Eric tugs me close, crashing his lips into mine. This kiss is different. It's not soft, its fiery. Our lips tangle, tongues explore, and hands grip each other, desperate for more. My hands wind their way around Eric's neck and tug the short hairs on the back of his head. His hands slide over my hips and cup my butt, pulling me more firmly against his hard body.

"You're going to need another cold shower," I tease as I push back.

"I already do," he laughs. "Let's take the stairs down to the cafeteria and I can think about my grandmother or something. That'll cool me off."

I follow Eric into the stairwell, and I'm distracted by his joking comment.

"Did you know your grandparents?" I ask.

He laughs. "Stiff, I didn't mean that literally. As long as you keep your hands to yourself I'll be fine."

I smack his shoulder as I follow him down the stairs. "I know that," I say, "but it made me wonder. I never knew any of mine, but my parents were transfers."

"I knew most of mine," Eric answers. "My dad's father died before I was born, but his mother lived near us. She died when I was about ten. My mom's parents were in Erudite, too. They died when I was in Lower Levels. I don't remember too much about them."

"My mom was from Dauntless," I muse. "I wonder if I have family here."

"We can look into it," Eric replies. "Do you know what her maiden name was?"

"No," I say. "Abnegation don't talk about themselves. I only found out they were transfers when she came on visiting day."

Eric stops at the bottom of the stairs and turns to face me. I'm still up a step, so we're nearly eye to eye. He rests his hands on my hips and gives me a tiny peck on the lips. I steady myself by holding on to his shoulders.

"How do you want to play this?" he asks quietly.

"Play what?" I ask, confused by the question.

"This," he says, pointing back and forth between our chests, "us."

"Eric, I don't want to hide this. I passed leadership training on my own merit, and Four and I broke up over a month ago. I have nothing to worry about, and I'm proud to be with you."

Eric's face beams. "So big announcement then?" he teases. "Acrobats? Balloon drop? At least let me use the compound-wide intercom."

"Tempting," I say, "but I was thinking of something more like a t-shirt that says, 'Property of Tris Prior.'"

"Possessive," Eric growls, leaning close to my ear.

"I don't share," I whisper back as seductively as I can.

"Neither do I," he returns in the same tone.

"We better get in there before I need another cold shower," Eric says.

Hand in hand we leave the stairwell and walk down the hall to the cafeteria. Eric holds the door for me and I enter the crowded cafeteria with my boyfriend behind me, drawing stares and triggering whispered conversations. I see my friends at our usual table, and Eric and I head towards them. Before we get there, Max appears, waving for our attention.

"Eric! Tris!" he calls. "How are you feeling today?"

"Wonderful," I say, smiling up at Eric who winks in reply.

Max gives us a knowing look. "It's about time," he grumbles, making Eric smile. "This guy has been mooning over you for months. Glad he finally grew some balls."

"Me too," I say, laughing.

Reaching up on tip toe I get close to Eric's ear and whisper just for him, "You're going to need them."

He raises an eyebrow at me. "Careful, woman," he growls.

"I've been looking all over for you guys this morning," says Max, getting back to the reason he approached us. "We have a couple of big announcements to make to the faction. We need to let them know about Peter, and we need to let them know that Tris passed her leadership exam. I was thinking we should make the announcement about Peter at lunch, let that fester for the afternoon, then change the subject by announcing Tris' leadership at dinner."

"Makes sense to me," I say.

"Let's sweeten the deal," suggests Eric, "free Dauntless cake for everyone at dinner, and we get one of the DJs to work the pit tonight. Everyone can let their hair down and celebrate."

"I love it," says Max. "You two get some lunch and we'll make the announcement from the catwalk in twenty minutes. Okay?"

Eric and I agree and hurry to grab lunch. We join my friends at our table and let them know that we only have a few minutes to eat before we have to join Max for the announcement about Peter. This gets Christina talking, and she chatters on about the trial for the friends who weren't with us at Candor. I'm glad to let her monopolize the conversation so I get a chance to eat.

We don't get the opportunity to tell our friends about our relationship before we have to put away our trays and join Max on the catwalk. From there we can see the entire cafeteria. I find my friends, who give me supportive waves and thumbs up. Zeke and Uriah even start blowing kisses. I have to look away from them to school my features into the same scowl I know Eric wears. Harrison and Veronica step onto the catwalk, standing on Max's left, while Eric and I flank him on his right.

"Dauntless!" calls Max in his booming voice. I hear the reverberation through the faction-wide intercom. "Your attention please for a quick announcement. As you may know, a trial was held in Candor yesterday. Dauntless member Peter Hayes was tried and found guilty of assault and attempted murder for attacks he orchestrated as an initiate. He has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

His behavior is not the Dauntless way. Dauntless believes in strength, not for selfish aims, but to defend the people of Chicago. We believe in bravery, not cruelty. Let this be a reminder to all of us: Dauntless will not tolerate attacks within the faction. This is our family, and we will defend it!"

The room erupts in applause and wild whooping and yelling. I feel Eric's hand on my back as we join the cheering. Amidst the noise, Max moves to leave the catwalk, and we follow him. I feel good about the situation and putting this whole thing behind me, but in spite of sleeping in until nearly noon, I'm tired again. I sway slightly as we step into the hall, and Eric puts a hand on my back.

"Tris?" he asks.

"I'm fine," I insist, "just dizzy for a minute there."

Eric frowns, but doesn't argue. We make plans for the leadership announcement at dinner, then say goodbye to the other leaders. The second we are alone again, Eric grabs my hand firmly.

"I don't like all this dizziness and tiredness," he says, "and your hands are like ice. I'm taking you to the infirmary."

"Fine," I say. "But there's nothing wrong with me."

"I'll feel better when a doctor confirms that," says Eric.

.

xxxx

.

"You've lost a little weight," says the doctor, comparing my records to the number currently on the scale. I shrug.

"When was your last period?" he asks.

I blush. "Last week."

He writes that down and flips through the chart again.

"So, dizziness, lightheadedness, fatigue, and cold hands. A few pounds of unexplained weight loss. Are your symptoms worse with your monthly cycle?"

I think for a minute before answering. "I'm not sure. It seems worse when I'm under a lot of stress, but that's been lining up with my cycle, so I don't know."

"Hmmm," he says, making more notes in my file. "I'd like to do some bloodwork."

I shrug. All the serums in Dauntless have made me really calm about needles. The doctor says some things to his nurse, and she gathers the supplies for a blood draw. I rest in the reclining chair as she takes a couple vials of blood from my arm.

"I'd like you to rest here while we run the tests," says the doctor. "Would you like me to send Mr. Coulter in?"

"Yes, please," I say.

"It won't be long," he assures me, "just try to relax."

The doctor and nurse leave, and Eric walks in a few seconds later.

"What did he say?" he asks, rushing to my side.

"Nothing yet," I assure him. "They took some blood for testing, but he didn't seem alarmed."

We sit in silence for a few minutes, Eric rubbing small circles on the back of my hand with his thumb. I'm just starting to doze off when the doctor returns.

"Okay, Miss Prior," says the doctor, "your results are back. Mr. Coulter you can head back to the waiting room."

"It's okay if he stays," I say, and Eric smiles at me gratefully.

"Sure," says the doctor. "So I have your results. Just as I suspected, your iron levels are low. I think your monthly cycle is the culprit, so I'd like to put you on birth control pills to help regulate things a bit. Do you have any questions about that?"

"No," I assure him, "I've been meaning to come in and talk to someone about that anyway."

"Excellent," he says, "we'll get that ordered from the pharmacy and you can start taking them tomorrow. We also need to take action to increase your iron level now. I'd like to give you an infusion of red blood cells, and get you started on an iron supplement. Do you eat much red meat?"

"Some," I say.

"Beans?"

"Yuck, no."

"Spinach or dark leafy greens?"

"Yes, but they're hard to come by in the winter."

"True," he agrees. "I want to encourage you to eat more iron-rich foods. The nurse will give you a pamphlet with a list of things to look for."

The nurse taps on the door and enters pushing an IV pole. She hangs a bag of dark red blood to the pole, and plugs the needle into my arm, making a few adjustments to the tubing and valves. Once they are satisfied, the doctor leaves, and the nurse steps out to get me some juice.

"How do you feel?" Eric asks me for the thousandth time in the last two days. I sigh.

"Better, actually," I say. "It's weirdly good to know I'm sick and not just a wimp. We'll get this under control and I'll be able to put it behind me. Thank you for insisting on coming to the doctor."

Eric shrugs. "I take care of my woman."

"In that case, I'll be expecting ice cream and a massage when we get out of here."

"Rubbing my hands all over your body would be a pleasure," he says in a low voice.

I blush, which makes Eric smirk.

Two cups of grape juice and the transfusion later, I'm released from the infirmary with a bag of new prescriptions. Eric walks me home and tucks me in for a nap on my couch.

I only sleep for about an hour. Apparently the transfusion works fast, because I'm feeling better than I have in days. I do some cleaning and laundry in my apartment. I'm dusting the entertainment center when Christina knocks on my door.

"What's up?" I ask her.

"A little birdy told me you were in the infirmary again," she says. I'm not surprised. Will works there, so I'm sure he told on me.

"I have an iron deficiency," I say with a shrug. "That's why I've been dizzy and tired lately. It's no big deal."

"I'm glad they figured it out," she says as she helps herself to a drink from my fridge. "Are you still hosting a party tonight?"

"Actually there's going to be a party in the pit tonight," I inform her. "We're announcing it at dinner when they announce that I passed my leadership test."

"Oh my god," she squeals. "We need to go shopping. You need two new outfits. One for dinner and the announcement, and one for the party. Plus shoes. Something sexy. Something to tease Eric with until he finally asks you out!"

I laugh out loud. "There has been too much going on!" I declare. "I haven't had a chance to tell you. He did! We're official as of this morning. Or maybe last night."

Christina leaps off my couch. "Finally!" she yells. "Now we have to go to the lingerie shop, too!"

I give in and leave a note for Eric. It says, "Feeling good. Chris took me shopping for tonight." I draw a little heart on the bottom and stick it on the outside of my door so Eric will find it if he comes looking for me.

I let Chris drag me to several clothing stores, a shoe store, and even the lingerie shop. I convince her that a skirt is a bad idea for dinner since I'll be on the catwalk for the leadership announcement, and the floor up there is just grating. It's not friendly to high heels or modesty in a skirt. I end up with a pair of slim black pants and a sleeveless top with a halter neckline, a fitted under layer, and a flowing top layer. I'll wear it with my black ballet flats for dinner. My dress for the party is far more exciting. There must have been some bravery transfused with the blood I got today, because I decide on a dress that I would normally find to be too much. It's a halter neckline, too, fitted all the way down to my mid-thigh. The dress is black, of course, but it has a pattern of sparkles that look dark red when the light hits them.

I get dark red heels at the shoe store, and a lace halter top bralette and a couple matching thongs from the lingerie shop. I talk Christina into visiting the tattoo shop, and I have Tori pierce my ear lobes and my left tragus. We talk about adding dermals to my leadership tattoo, but Tori suggests I let the tattoos heal longer.

Christina and I rush back to my place. I change into the outfit we planned for dinner while she warms up her curling iron. She curls my long hair, giving me soft waves, and does my makeup. I have a smokey eye, but a neutral lip color, and Christina explains that she'll add a touch of sparkle and a bolder lip color when we come back to change before the party. She also plans on putting my hair up, which I will appreciate when it gets hot in the pit tonight.

Eric doesn't come for me before I need to leave to meet the other leaders, so Christina walks with me. The leaders agreed to meet one floor above the cafeteria so we can go straight out to the catwalk at the beginning of dinner to make our announcement. Max, Harrison, and Veronica are waiting when Christina and I arrive.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Max teases, batting his eyelashes at me.

"I don't know," I repeat in the same lighthearted tone, "I haven't had time to buy a leash yet."

The leaders burst into loud laughter, and Christina waves as she walks away laughing.

"What's so funny?" asks Eric, appearing beside me. His hair is freshly trimmed, and he looks handsome in his dark jeans and a black button-down with the sleeves rolled to reveal his strong tattooed forearms.

"We were just talking about your girl getting you on a leash so you show up on time," Harrison says, still laughing.

"Sorry," says Eric, "the barber shop was busy. Are we ready to go?"

Max nods and holds the door as Harrison and Veronica walk out onto the catwalk.

Eric leans in close to my ear and whispers, "you can tie me up any time you want," making my cheeks flush hotly.

Max walks onto the catwalk and indicates that I should follow. Eric brings up the rear. Conversations in the cafeteria taper off as the Dauntless members notice the leadership team. Max steps to the railing and motions me to join him.

"Dauntless!" he yells, and I can tell that this announcement too is being broadcast on the intercom for those not in the cafeteria. "I have an announcement. I am pleased to tell you that Tris Prior, our leadership trainee, has passed her exams and is now a full leader of this faction!"

The cafeteria explodes with cheers, stomping of boots, and clapping. I stand at the rail beside Max and take it all in. I spot my friends at our usual table. They cheer louder than anyone, and I wave at them. After a few minutes, Max raises his hands for silence.

"Not only has Tris passed her tests," Max continues, "but she has earned the highest score in faction history, 98 percent!"

The cheers start again, but Max cuts them off quickly. "Tonight," he says, "in honor of our new leader, we will be serving Dauntless cake at no charge in the cafeteria, restaurant, and pit bar."

This causes more cheering, and Uriah is the loudest of all. Dauntless get three meals a day at the cafeteria, but extras like cake cost points. Free cake is a fun surprise for everyone.

Max holds up his hands again. "We have also asked Smith to deejay tonight in the pit starting at 9:00 PM. No cover charge."

Dauntless loves a party, and Smith is the most popular DJ in the faction, so the cheers crescendo into a deafening roar. I start to hear the voices coming together until the entire cafeteria is chanting in unison, "Tris! Tris! Tris!"

I glance at Eric who is beaming with pride and chanting my name as loud as anyone, his fist pumping in the air. I hear Max, Veronica, and Harrison, too. The whole experience is surreal, and I feel a mixture of intense pride and discomfort. When I can stand it no more I raise my hands to try and quiet everyone.

"Thank you!" I call over the crowd. "I am excited to have the opportunity to lead this proud and noble faction. I promise that I will do everything in my power to keep Dauntless strong and make it the best it can be." I pause as another wave of cheering passes, then continue. "I want to thank Max, Eric, Veronica, and Harrison for their training and instruction. You obviously did well; my score is a direct reflection of your teaching. I also want to thank my friends and everyone who supported and encouraged me through training. Thank you!"

The cheering starts up again, and all of the leaders step up to the railing. Max and Eric each raise one of my hands in the air. When they lower my arms and Max drops my hand, I lean into Eric's side.

We follow Max down the stairs to the cafeteria floor and to a table that has been reserved for us. Max's wife, and Harrison's wife and two sons wait there for us.

Carissa envelopes me in a motherly hug, then lets go so Debbie can do the same. The boys, who appear to be about five and seven, clamber for Eric's attention until he throws them over his shoulders and he and Harrison take them through the line to get food. I don't know that Eric had ever looked better than he does right now, smiling broadly and covered in happy children.

"Trissy!" I hear, and turn around just in time as Uriah barrels into me, lifting me off the floor in a bear hug. "You did it!" he yells as our friends gather around for a round of hugs and thumps on the back. We make plans to meet in the VIP area of the pit bar, which Max assured me is secured for my use tonight.

Eric returns with a tray of food for us, and I manage a decent meal, taking bites between well-wishers who stop to congratulate me.

The crowd thins out eventually, and Eric and I manage to sneak back to our apartments. I find Christina waiting outside my door. We make Eric go home, but he promises to be back in an hour to get me for the party. That hour flies by as Christina works my hair into an updo and we touch up our makeup and change into our new party dresses and heels.

I'm practically buzzing with anticipation when Eric comes back to get me. I can tell that this is going to be a night to remember.

.

xxxx

.

 **A/N - Ladies and gentlemen, raise your glasses in a toast to irony. I wrote this a few weeks ago, and I had originally named the judge in Peter's trial Cavanaugh. Then that whole circus with the Supreme Court confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh came up, and I decided to change his name. Then, while these chapters were in editing, I was diagnosed with anemia. You. have. got. to. be. kidding. me! What are the odds? My case is a different kind and is very mild - I haven't passed out or had to have any blood transfusions. I haven't even missed work. It was actually caused by a prescription I'm on. I knew it was a possibility. Maybe that subconsciously made me think of it for Tris. Anyway, irony is a pain. Maybe I should start writing about my characters winning the lottery...**


	13. Chapter 13: Moving Forward

I'm thankful to have Sunday off. Eric and I sleep in again, then nurse our hangovers with water, pain relievers, and burgers delivered from the cafeteria. Eric claims that greasy food cures a hangover, but I think he's just using that as an excuse to get me to eat more iron-rich red meat.

The party last night was amazing. I drank champagne and did shots in the VIP room with my friends and fellow leaders. I danced late into the night, mostly with Eric. When it started getting hot in the pit, he removed his button-down to reveal a black tee that said "Property of Tris Prior." I laughed so hard I almost peed myself, then let him lead me back out to the dance floor where the whole faction could see it while we danced. At the end of the song, Eric leaned down and captured my lips in a passionate kiss that earned cheers and catcalls from the people near us, and made me blush deeply.

My friends had fun, too. Leadership paid for the drinks in the VIP room, so our crew did not hold back. The Pedrad brothers got especially wasted as they challenged each other to try everything on the bar menu. At one point, when they were already well into the list, Lynn dared them to do body shots off each other, and they actually did it! I don't think I've ever laughed harder. I nearly choked, and champagne even came out of my nose. When Zeke actually passed out, we drew obscene things on his face with a permanent marker before Tobias helped Shauna drag him home. Uri was cut off after that, and Tobias and Marlene eventually got him home with his brother where the girls could keep an eye on them as they recovered.

Tobias and Tiffany seemed to be having fun together, and I found that I enjoy the friendly redhead as well. She's tall, nearly as tall as Tobias, and willowy. Her striking red hair flows halfway down her back. She hasn't lost her Amity sweetness, but she can party like a Dauntless. I can tell our friends all like her, and she introduced us to some of her friends, who also seemed pretty cool.

The compound is quiet today as most people are off work and recovering from last night's party. Eric and I don't venture out of my apartment until afternoon, and that's just for a quick check in at the office. We're both off work today, but after a major blowout like last night there are probably things to tend to.

We find out that six people ended up sleeping it off in our detox lockup, and countless others recovered at home. There were no major injuries or incidents, which surprises me. When I express this to Max, he just shrugs and says, "You put a touch of peace serum in the free Dauntless cake, and everyone gets along fine, even the belligerent drunks." I can't help but laugh and admire his craftiness.

.

xxxx

.

Monday is my first day in the office as a full Dauntless leader. I wake up early to go for a run. Mandatory physical training is over, but leaders need to be able to respond to anything. It sets a good example for the faction, too. On top of that, the weekend of junk food and alcohol is weighing me down, so it feels good to sweat some of it out.

I walk into the training room with my sights set on a treadmill, and find Tiffany is already jogging on one of them.

"Good morning," I greet her, stepping onto the treadmill next to hers.

"Morning," she replies. "That was some party the other night."

I laugh, "That was some weekend! I think I'm going to sweat champagne and burger grease."

Tiffany laughs. We jog together for a while, laughing over Zeke and Uriah's antics and the other crazy things we saw at the party this weekend.

After a quiet moment, Tiffany blurts out, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," I say, nodding.

"I'm sorry if this is awkward," she begins, hesitantly. "Why did you and Tobias break up? If you don't mind my asking."

"Not at all," I reply. "Tobias is a great guy. Things just didn't work out with us once I got into leadership training. He always wanted to protect me, and I wanted to do things for myself. Growing up in Abnegation I was supposed to blend in and think only of others. I chose to leave that life, but between my small size and my background people tend to underestimate me. That makes me even more stubborn and independent. Which made Tobias get more protective, and even scolding. Which made me less open with him. It just spiraled out of control. We eventually accepted that we're better as friends."

Tiffany glances at me with a smile. "Thank you for telling me all that," she says. "I've always heard that abused children are more likely to grow up and become abusive. I've never seen any hint of that from Toby, but I remember seeing you bruised in the past, so I just wanted to hear your version of the breakup."

"Do you remember the fights in initiation?" I ask her. She nods. "Between initiation and leadership training I've been sparring since I got here. The only people who hit me outside of training were Peter, Drew, and Al, and they're imprisoned, factionless, and dead. I can assure you that Tobias has never hit me or even come close. He is nothing like his father."

"Thank you," says Tiffany. "He's been so sweet to me, but I always had this nagging fear. So many people are intimidated by him."

I can't help but laugh. "They're afraid of 'Instructor Four,'" I explain. "They don't know Tobias."

"This can't be good for you, man," I hear Eric say from the doorway. I glance over my shoulder and see him standing there with Tobias. "The girlfriend _and_ the ex-girlfriend? At least they don't seem to need the heavy bags."

My treadmill slows to a stop and I turn to kiss my boyfriend as he walks up to me.

"We were just comparing war stories," I tease. "You know, discussing physical traits and idiosyncrasies."

Tobias blushes deep red, and Eric leans in close to my ear. "I see I still have work to do if you remember that stuff."

I giggle as his warm breath tickles my neck. "Four who?" I say in a fake dumb voice. Reaching up to Eric's ear, I whisper, "you can work on erasing my memory right now if you want."

Eric growls and raises an eyebrow. I wink at him and turn to face our friends.

"I'm going to hit the shower," I announce. "I'll see you guys later. Bye, Tiffany. Bye, _Toby_."

I glance over my shoulder as Eric practically drags me out the door. Tobias and Tiffany are both beet red. I don't know if she realizes that she called him that when we were talking. Its It's such an Amity nickname. I know he won't be happy if it gets out, but its it's funny between us.

.

xxxx

.

Max and the other leaders did a good job preparing me for my new role. My first week is uneventful, in the office at least. At home it's a whirlwind of new love.

Dating Eric is completely different from dating Tobias. Where Tobias protected me by holding me back, Eric encourages me to be and do more. Tobias was deeply private, and Eric threatens to get us in trouble with his public displays of affection. Where Tobias was gentle, Eric is possessive and adventurous. I can't imagine how Beatrice the Abnegation transfer would have responded to Eric. As weird as it sounds, I think being with Tobias first helped me work through some of my discomfort with intimacy and prepared me to hold my own with this man who inspires my fire and drive.

At the end of my first week I have my first on call weekend. This means that I have to be in the office half days on Saturday and Sunday, and that I will be the leader people turn to if anything comes up. Because of this I can't party or drink, and that I have to be in the office during my hours, at the cafeteria during meals, and at my own apartment at night so people can find me. There are two people on call each weekend, and this time it's me and Eric. Max allowed us to work the same weekends so that we can be off the same weekends, but he made us promise, "not to christen every damn surface in the leadership offices." This made me blush furiously, but Eric just replied, "no promises" with a smirk.

On Saturday I work the first half of the day, and after lunch together in the cafeteria Eric works the second half. I decide to use part of my afternoon to visit Tori. My leadership tattoo is pretty much healed, so I want to have her put in the dermals, and maybe a surprise piercing for Eric, as well. Thankfully the shop isn't busy when I arrive.

"Tris!" Tori greets me. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to see if my tattoos are healed enough to add the dermals, and I'd like to get my tongue pierced as well."

"Eric will love that," she says with a knowing look that makes me blush.

I select body jewelry with sparkly gems in three different sizes. Tori works three dermals into each arm to add a little something to my tattoos. It hurts a little, kind of a sick feeling as she maneuvers the posts under the skin of my forearm.

While she works we chat about this and that, and I remember the promise I made Tobias months ago about seeing if Tori could give him the aptitude test.

"I don't know how to ask this without telling things that aren't mine to say, but I have a question about the aptitude test." I begin.

Tori makes a noise to let me know she's listening as she does the fine work of threading another dermal into my skin.

"If someone wanted to take the aptitude test as an adult, would that be possible?"

Tori stops working for a minute, considering my question. Finally, she says, "I don't see how. The serum for the tests is kept at Erudite and delivered to the Upper Levels school on the day of the testing. All of the equipment and supplies are kept there. We can't do a test from here."

"What if we got a vial of the serum? Could we administer the test using the equipment we use for fear sims?"

"I don't know," Tori replies, "I don't think the transmitters work the same way. The only thing I can think of is the administrator training day. The day before the tests we get together and go over the new advancements and stuff like that. They always need a few guinea pigs, so those of us who have been doing this longer sometimes go through it again so the new testers can see how it works."

"That might work," I say hesitantly as I consider the prospect. "What is the mindset about divergents this year?"

"I got a message about this year's training, and that's one of the things we'll be going over. There is no one actively looking for divergents any more, but I would still advise them to keep it quiet. Just because Jeanine isn't hunting them down doesn't mean everyone is accepting."

"I'll have to talk to the person I know who wants to take the test and see what they think."

"This individual is divergent?" Tori asks, her old Erudite curiosity bubbling to the surface.

"We think so," I reply, "but I can't really talk about it."

"Fair enough," says Tori. "The dermals are done, let's get your tongue pierced!"

The piercing is practically painless, though I do feel some swelling and discomfort after it's done. Tori advises me on how to care for it, and that I can't drink alcohol for a while. She goes into some detail about other things I can't do until it heals, and by the time she's done I'm blushing like an Abnegation bride on her wedding night.

I pay for the piercings and schedule my next visit when she'll change out the tongue piercing for a smaller barbell.

"Thanks Tris!" Tori calls as I leave. "And good luck keeping lover boy at bay!"

I pop in to the ice cream and coffee shop. Tori suggested a smoothie because the cold treat will feel good on my swollen tongue, but she advised me not to drink from a straw until it heals. Tiffany is working, so I'm excited to have someone to show my new piercings to.

"Hey Tris!" she greets me. "Ice cream or coffee today?"

"Actually," say with a slight lisp, "I'd like a smoothie. White peach berry, please."

Tiffany grins knowingly. "New piercing?"

"How did you know?" I ask.

She laughs. "We're next door to the tattoo place, and Tori advises smoothies for all the new tongue piercings. I see one every few days, so I can spot them a mile away. Let's see it!"

I stick out my tongue for her approval, and she hands me my smoothie.

"My treat," Tiffany says, waving away my payment.

"Thanks!" I reply.

I'm torn between rushing back to the leadership offices to show Eric and stopping at the clothing shop to see Christina, who is also working this weekend. Remembering Tori's injunctions against kissing I decide to visit Christina first.

She's busy when I come in, so I take some time to browse around the store. Unlike the tattoo parlor, it's really busy in here. I end up trying on a couple things before Christina gets free.

"I like that skirt," she says as I twirl in front of a mirror. I stick my tongue out at her in response.

"You got your tongue pierced!" she squeals. "Does it hurt? Was it Eric's idea? What does he think?"

"Actually it's a surprise. He doesn't know yet. It didn't hurt getting it done, but it's sore now."

"Well, he is going to love it." declares Christina.

I hope so. When I finish shopping I go to the leadership office, eager to show off my new piercings to Eric. I find him alone in his office, pouring over paperwork.

"Hey baby," he greets me. "What have you been up to?"

"Shopping," I say with a shrug, working hard to speak without lisping around my swollen tongue. "I stopped at Tori's, too, and got a few piercings done."

"A few?" he asks, arching an eyebrow.

I hold up 7 fingers and Eric's other eyebrow raises too.

"You're here to show me, I hope," he says.

I shrug off my jacket and walk over to Eric's desk. Sliding his chair back, I sit on the top of his desk facing him, and hold out my arms.

"Wow," he says, "that looks really cool."

He studies my arms for a minute before cocking an eyebrow at me again. "I only count six."

I shrug, then lean close to his ear. "Find the other one," I whisper.

Eric swallows hard and slides his hands up my legs. He reaches for the button on my jeans, but I stop him.

"Cold," I say.

He slides his hands further up, lifting the bottom of my shirt to reveal my unpierced navel.

"Cold," I repeat.

He slides his hands up my ribs, stopping below my bra.

"Am I getting warmer?" he asks.

"Warmer," I agree, "but still pretty cold."

I must lisp because Eric's face takes on a knowing look. He swipes his thumb across my bottom lip.

"Open up," he says in a low rumble.

I stick my tongue out and his eyes darken with desire.

"One problem," I say cautiously, sticking out my lip in a pout. "It needs time to heal."

Eric groans.

"I guess I'll have to find other ways to show you how I feel about you."


	14. Chapter 14: Erudite (Dis)Connection

"Knock, knock!"

"I'm back here, Eric! Come on in!"

Eric walks into my bedroom and sticks out his bottom lip.

"Aww, you're already dressed. I should have come over sooner."

I can't help but laugh. "Don't start that," I warn him, "we have a staff meeting in fifteen minutes."

As we walk to the office hand-in-hand, Eric asks, "Did you ever talk to Tori about putting Four through the aptitude test?"

"I did, actually. It doesn't look good. The serum for the aptitude test is completely different from the fear sims, so it won't work on the same equipment. She said they do need guinea pigs on the day they train the test administrators, but I can't see Four agreeing to go through it in front of an audience."

"True," Eric agrees. "He's pretty private. I mean, I know it's not like going through your own fear landscape, but he's probably divergent, and I'm not sure how that would be received, or if he would want to have a whole group of strangers to know that."

"Most of the testing volunteers are from Abnegation, too," I add. "I don't think he wants to bump into any Stiffs that might know him."

"Yeah," Eric agrees. "Having to deal with you is all the 'Stiff' most of us can handle."

"Hey!" I protest, bumping him with my hip.

He laughs and drops a quick kiss on my temple. "Sorry babe, I couldn't resist."

"Shut up, Nose," I grumble.

"Hey, that gives me an idea," says Eric as we walk through the lobby and wave at Kyle. "I have family in Erudite. I wonder if they could help us get access to the test."

"Do you talk to them?" I ask, wondering if my role as leader might enable me to have contact with my parents. Usually just Max goes to the council meetings, so I haven't seen my father since I chose Dauntless, and I haven't seen my mother since visiting day.

"I haven't seen them in person," Eric answers, "but we keep in touch a little here and there. When I was spying on Jeanine I couldn't have any contact with them because I was afraid of what she would do to them. Since her death I've talked to my parents a few times. We always say that sometime when I have business at Erudite we should get together. I'd really love to see my little sister. I can't imagine how much she's grown up in the last two- almost three years."

"My dad was pretty upset when Caleb and I transferred," I say sadly. "I wonder if he would even talk to me."

Eric pulls me into his arms right there in the hall outside our offices. I'm instantly comforted by his big, strong arms around me and his familiar woodsy scent.

"What are you doing?" asks Max from his office door.

"Being a good boyfriend," Eric fires back.

I laugh and he gives me another squeeze and a kiss on the forehead before we pull apart and walk into the staff meeting.

.

xxxx

.

My piercings are healed, and this afternoon I'm going to see Tori for a smaller bar in my tongue. I had to have a big one at first to accommodate the swelling while it healed. Now that it's better, this bar is too long. I'm going to get a second hole pierced in each ear, too, and I've been thinking about another surprise for Eric, but I don't know if I'm brave enough to go through with it.

"Hey Bud! Hey Tori!" I cheerfully greet my friends as I walk in.

"Well, if it isn't our favorite pin cushion," Bud teases. "Are you here so we can put a few more holes in you?"

"She's here for a barbell change," says Tori, swatting at him.

"Actually," I say, "I'm here for both."

"Yes!" yells Bud, triumphantly. "I called it! You owe me a drink!"

"Wait. What?" I ask.

Tori rolls her eyes. "Bud bet me a drink that you would ask for another piercing when you came for your barbell appointment. Now I gotta buy the idiot a beer. Thanks, Tris."

"You love me and you know it," says Bud, forcing a sloppy kiss on Tori's unwilling cheek. "I knew you would want another piercing because they're addicting. And because you have to keep up with your man!"

I can't help but laugh. Bud reminds me of an older version of the Pedrad brothers. I do a quick count on my fingers.

"Yup," I confirm, "this will put me in the lead on the piercings count."

"But you have a long ways to go to catch up with his tattoo count," says Tori.

Bud laughs. "I'm going to sketch at the front desk. I don't need to see where you're sticking her. I'd have her hulk boyfriend after me, and he's scary!"

Bud fakes a frightened shudder as he walks away, and Tori and I laugh as we head to the piercing room.

When we're finished, I walk out to the front. Bud is sitting at the desk, leaning over a sketchbook. He's concentrating so hard that he doesn't hear me, so I sneak up close, lean toward his ear, and whisper as seductively as I can while trying not to laugh, "It's just us here. Do you want to see my new piercing?"

Bud's head snaps up, and his face registers shock as he swallows hard. I can't contain myself any more and burst out laughing.

"Right here," I giggle, pointing at my earlobes, I had Tori put a second piercing in each ear."

Bud throws his head back and roars with laughter. "Are you sure you came from Abnegation?"

"I left for a reason," I say as I hand Tori my card to pay for the new barbell and _three_ new piercings.

.

xxxx

.

I'm in the middle of reviewing the faction's monthly food order when there's a knock on my office door.

"Come in!" I call.

Max opens the door and enters with Kyle behind him.

"Any idea why Dr. Marshall's assistant called to schedule a meeting with you at Erudite?" Max asks, skipping the pleasantries.

"No idea," I answer. "What did his assistant say?"

"He just said his boss wanted to schedule a meeting with you," Kyle explains. "I looked for a day when you and Eric were both available because of that whole 'creepy guy' thing, and scheduled it for Tuesday of next week. Before we hung up he asked if you're a transfer from Abnegation. It was strange."

"What was the assistant's name?" I ask.

"Caleb," says Kyle. "I think he's new since Dr. Marshall took over. We admins get to know each other setting up meetings and such, and I don't know a Caleb over there."

"My brother Caleb transferred to Erudite last year. I wonder if it's him. I wasn't called Tris until I came here, so he might be wondering if it's me."

"That would explain the question, but not why Dr. Marshall wants to meet with you," adds Max.

Eric and Harrison, walking down the hall together, pop their heads into my office.

"Kyle," says Harrison, "the phone is ringing up front."

Kyle nods and excuses himself.

"Do either of you know why Dr. Marshall's office called to set up a meeting with Tris?"

I see Eric's jaw clench and his hands ball into fists.

"I have an idea," says Harrison, "but you won't like it."

"I have the same idea," growls Eric, "and I definitely don't like it."

"I'm going to call over there and get to the bottom of this," says Max, marching out of my office.

Harrison follows him out, but Eric stays behind. "I really hate that guy," he grumbles.

"At least he doesn't want to kill me, like Jeanine did," I say, hoping to lighten the mood. It doesn't work, so I try a new tactic. "Kyle scheduled you to come with me, and we think Marshall's new assistant is my brother Caleb."

I retell Kyle's awkward conversation that led to our theory about Caleb. "I hope it's him," I conclude, "I'd like to see him again, and you can meet him too."

"That reminds me," Eric says, "I talked to my mom the other day. She's going to ask around about the aptitude test." He walks around my desk and drops his strong hands on my shoulders, rubbing the sore muscles. "I also told her I'm seeing someone."

I turn my head sharply to examine his face. He looks hopeful, and a bit nervous.

"What did you tell her?" I ask.

"That I'm dating the most beautiful girl in Dauntless," he says in a cocky voice, "and that she's smart, and brave, thoughtful, and a hardworking star around here. She wants to meet this girl."

"So do I," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Don't be so down on yourself, Stiff," he scolds.

Max walks in, knocking on my open door as he enters.

"I talked to Dr. Marshall," he says. "You were right, your brother Caleb is his assistant. He claims that he wants you to visit for lunch next week so he can congratulate you on becoming a full leader, and to reunite you with your brother. I told him that since you've never been to Erudite, Eric will be coming along. You know, since he grew up there and all."

Max must not know about my visit to Erudite back during initiation. Either that or he's playing innocent.

"I still don't like it," grumbles Eric.

"I know, baby," I say, grabbing his hand. "But I'd like to see Caleb. And maybe we can see your family, too."

His face brightens a little at this prospect. I know he would really like to see his family again, especially his little sister.

"It's settled then," says Max.

.

xxxx

.

The week passes slowly. I can't wait to see Caleb. We had our differences growing up, but we chose the factions that suit us, and it seems like we're both excelling in our new homes. I'm optimistic that we'll enjoy catching up since we don't have to pretend to be selfless anymore.

Tuesday is sunny and warm, a perfect May day in Chicago. Max offers us the use of a car and driver, but I miss jumping on and off trains, and the weather could not be more enjoyable.

Again I turn to Christina for fashion help. I'll be jumping off trains, seeing my brother, having lunch with the head of a faction who also happens to be a sexual harasser, and meeting my boyfriend's family. That's asking a lot from one outfit! Christina chooses black legging-like pants, knee-high black boots, a fitted charcoal tee with a scoop neckline and elbow-length sleeves, and a thin black quilted vest. I pull my hair back in a simple braid and keep my makeup neutral. My ear piercings and leadership tattoos show, but I look pretty tame by Dauntless standards.

Eric picks me up at my apartment and greets me with a peck on the lips.

"What time is the train?" he asks.

I chuckle. "You really should learn the schedule. We need to get going."

Jumping on the train is much easier, but just as much of a thrill as it was when I joined Dauntless nearly a year ago. I stand near the door of the train car, feeling the wind whip around me as the city rushes by.

"Are you nervous?" Eric asks as he wraps his arms around me from behind.

"About Marshall? No. He won't do anything with you there. I'm more nervous about meeting your parents."

Eric chuckles. "Don't be. They're going to love you."

I hope he's right. I lean my back into his muscular chest and enjoy the gentle sway of the train car. When Erudite comes into view we jump off, both landing easily on our feet.

Dr. Marshall uses the same penthouse office where I was taken to see Jeanine during initiation. We're quiet on the elevator ride up. I can feel the tension radiating off of Eric the closer we get to the office. He's not happy about me being with Dr. Marshall, and I'm sure this place has plenty of unpleasant memories from his time spying on Jeanine. I rub gentle circles on his back until the elevator arrives and the doors open.

"Mom?!" Eric's voice is both surprised and tender. He steps off the elevator and right into the arms of the middle-aged blonde woman who came running when the elevator opened.

"Eric!" she says in a voice thick with emotion. "Look at my baby! You're so tall! And all those tattoos?! Even on your neck. You look so completely Dauntless!"

She holds her son at arm's length to examine him, and I'm able to get a good look at her. She's petite, like me, with chin-length blonde hair streaked with silver. She looks a lot like Eric in spite of their tremendous size difference. In fact, it's comical to think that a woman her size gave birth to a big guy like Eric.

A tall, broad-shouldered man in a blue polo shirt comes around the corner with a willowy teenage girl with long blonde hair. "Emma," Eric breathes as he sees his baby sister for the first time in nearly three years.

The tall man laughs and pulls his son into a back-thumping man hug. Emma steps back. I can tell she's uncomfortable with this new version of her brother. She was twelve when he left, and he was a skinny sixteen-year-old kid who looked very little like the muscular, tattooed and pierced Dauntless man that he is at nineteen.

Suddenly remembering my presence, Eric turns from his family and pulls me to him.

"This is my girlfriend, Tris," he says. "Tris, this is my family. My mom, Karen, is a teacher at the Lower Levels school. My dad, Anthony, is a surgeon."

"Mrs. Coulter, Dr. Coulter," I say, nodding at them.

"Please, Sweetie, call me Karen," says Eric's mom. She's warm for an Erudite woman, and I can easily imagine her nurturing a classroom of little kids.

"And I'm only Dr. Coulter at the hospital," says his dad. "Please call me Anthony."

"You must be Emma," I say to Eric's sister, who nods in response. "He talks about you all the time," I tell her.

Her eyes bounce back to Eric, who smiles. I can tell he's upset that she's being distant. I step close and put an arm around his back.

"I'm sorry to cut the reunion short," I say, "but we have a meeting with Dr. Marshall."

"Actually, Eric is having lunch with us during your meeting," says Karen.

"No I'm not," snaps Eric. "I stay with Tris."

"Son, I'm sure your lovely Dauntless young lady can hold her own with Reggie. He's harmless," chuckles Anthony, thumping his son on the back.

Eric tenses, but doesn't contradict his dad. Just then a door opens at the end of the hall, and I see a familiar mop of unruly dark hair.

"Caleb!" I call, rushing toward my brother.

"Beatrice?" he asks. "You look...different. Are you really a Dauntless leader?"

"I am," I say proudly. "I finished first in my initiation class and joined leadership."

"Dr. Marshall is expecting us," he says.

I move to follow Caleb, and Eric follows.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Emma asks her brother. Eric pauses, clearly torn.

I face him and place a hand gently on his chest. "Go with them," I encourage. "I'll be fine with Caleb there."

Eric looks at my brother and nods reluctantly. I give him a quick kiss on the cheek and turn to follow Caleb. The Coulters stay in the hallway until we disappear into the office.

Caleb walks me through the reception area to a door which I know leads to the leader's office. He taps twice, and Dr. Marshall calls, "enter!"

Caleb opens the door and ushers me in.

"Ah, Miss Prior! Welcome to Erudite."

"Thank you," I say coolly.

"Caleb, is lunch ready?" he asks.

"Yes sir," my brother replies.

"Bring it in please."

As Caleb brings in the food, Dr. Marshall leads me to a table under a window in one corner of his office. I notice that it is set for two people. I guess he never intended for either Eric or Caleb share the meal with us.

When everything is set, Dr. Marshall dismisses my brother. He hands me a plate with a beautiful fresh salad of greens, raspberries, blue cheese crumbles, chicken, and candied pecans. It's early in the season for raspberries; I haven't had any in months.

"This looks delicious," I say, "thank you."

"The raspberries are a special treat," he boasts. "We've been working with Amity on some new greenhouse technology and they brought some as a thank you. It's a nice little perk of leadership. Kind of like reuniting with family in another faction. 'Faction before blood' is important, of course, but once one achieves leadership status, what's the point? We've proved our loyalty; we're entitled to some extra perks."

I let the man ramble and enjoy the flavors and textures of my salad and the buttery croissants served with it.

He continues. "I've been hearing interesting rumors around here. People are saying that the Dauntless leaders are looking for access to the aptitude test."

I'm dumbstruck. This must be the real reason he wants me here today. I decide to play it cool and nonchalant.

"It's not important," I say, "just some aptitudes we would like to see. Eric is interested in how a person's results might change after undergoing Dauntless' rigorous training."

By this time we've finished our meal. "That's an interesting question, Miss Prior. Please, join me on the sofa and we can discuss this further."

I stand, drop the blue cloth napkin onto my chair, and walk toward the sofa Dr. Marshall indicates.

"Miss Prior, forgive me for saying so, but your ass looks spectacular in those pants," he says, leering at my backside as he follows me to the sofa.

I sit as quickly as possible to get my "spectacular" backside out his his sight.

"Excuse me? Forgive you?" I say, flabbergasted by the blunt and crude comment.

"I know, I know," says Dr. Marshall, chuckling as he sits beside me on the couch. "It's silly of me to apologize for complimenting a beautiful girl. Now back to your interesting proposition about retesting people's aptitudes. I think that, leader to leader, we can work out a suitable arrangement. I've always wanted to sleep with a Dauntless girl. I give you what you want, and you give me what I want."

As he says this, he clamps a fleshy hand high on my thigh and leans in to kiss me. He's so close that I can smell the blue cheese on his breath.

My training kicks in and I slam an elbow into his solar plexus and leap off the couch.

"I see the kitten has claws," Dr. Marshall says as he also stands, giving me a devilish grin. "This is going to be fun. I like it rough."

He reaches for me again, but this time I'm ready. I cock my right arm and lunge it forward, slamming the heel of my hand upward into his nose. I hear the sickening crunch of cartilage and bone, and blood begins pouring from Dr. Marshall's nose, staining his blue button-down.

He groans loudly, dropping back onto the white leather sofa with his face in his hands. I step toward him, maintaining my fighting stance.

"Don't ever touch me again!" I say in my most menacing voice. Dr. Marshall nods, and groans again as the movement causes a fresh wave of pain.

I march to his desk and grab a box of tissues, tossing them on the sofa beside the bleeding man. He grabs a handful of them and begins mopping up the blood.

"Listen to me, you prick," I seethe. "I could take this to the council and see you stripped of your position, publicly humiliated, and possibly imprisoned. But I don't want to go through that." ...a _gain_ , I think to myself. _Plus there probably aren't cameras running in here, so it would be your word against mine_.

"You're fond of backroom deals," I continue, "so I'm going to make you an offer. You are going to send an aptitude test computer to Dauntless for one day, and we can do as many tests as we want. Erudite gathers no information, and gets no report. You do not accompany the machine. In fact, send Caleb. You lured me here under the ruse of seeing him, and you haven't let us spend any time together. In exchange, I'll keep my mouth shut, and you can make up whatever bullshit story you want to explain that broken nose. What do you say? Do you accept?"

"Yes," comes the small, muffled reply from the pile of tissues.

"Caleb!" I yell, faking an edge of panic in my voice as I cross to the door. I fling it open as my brother scurries in.

"What happened?" he says, alarmed.

"I'm not sure," I say innocently. "I wasn't looking. He fell. I think his nose is broken."

Caleb jogs to the desk and hits a few buttons on the phone. "Send medics," he says into the handset. "Dr. Marshall fell and he's bleeding heavily." He slams down the receiver.

"Beatrice, go out to the lobby and let the medics in when they arrive," he instructs.

I'm happy to get out of there. I wash my hands at the kitchenette behind Caleb's desk, and am drying them when the medics arrive. I let them in, and they rush back to Dr. Marshall's office. A few minutes later they emerge with the bloodied leader and guide him toward the elevator.

"Get well, Doctor," I call after him. "Thank you for the lunch. When you're feeling better, just let my office know when we can expect that equipment."

He waves in acknowledgment as he steps into the elevator.

"Well, that was unexpected," I say, turning to my brother. "Let's get things cleaned up before the blood dries. We don't want it to stain the carpet or that nice white sofa."

While we clean up, I ask my brother about life in Erudite. He tells me that he has an apartment near the office, and then begins a long monologue about all the fascinating things he learned during initiation.

"How did you end up working here?" I ask as I gather the lunch dishes.

"When Jeanine was removed," he explains, "her assistants were sent to prison for helping her. When Dr. Marshall came on as I finished initiation I applied, because Jeanine's assistants got to help with some exciting groundbreaking research. At my interview they seemed especially interested in my Abnegation background. I thought maybe since Dad is on the council I would be an asset in interfaction relations. So far I've mostly answered phones and juggled schedules. It's important, of course," he adds quickly, "and I have lots of time to read anything that interests me."

"That's nice," I say.

"What is Dauntless like?" he asks, curious.

I tell him about initiation, leaving out details like having knives thrown at my head and being dangled over the chasm. I talk about my friends, my apartment, and the parties in the pit.

"You know Eric, the leader who came with me today?" I ask.

"Big scary guy? Yeah, I definitely noticed him."

"He's my boyfriend."

Caleb stops in his tracks and turns to stare at me. "Beatrice, I don't think you're old enough to be dating anyone, much less an older man who looks like he could break you in half."

I can't help but laugh. "Caleb, I'm an adult. I chose my faction and passed initiation. I'm a leader, for goodness sake. If I can run a faction, I think I can run my own life. Besides, Eric is just nineteen. And he's not as scary as he looks, I promise."

I hear a tap on the glass door to the office. "Speak of the devil…" grumbles my brother, hitting the buzzer to admit Eric.

"Hey," he says, looking me over.

I give him a broad smile. "Hey yourself. How was your family?"

His face brightens. "Good. Next time we come here I want you to spend time with them too, so they can get to know you. How was your time with Caleb?"

"Good," I reply, smiling at my boyfriend and my brother. "He was telling me all about his job, initiation, and life in Erudite."

"That's nice," says Eric, visibly relieved to hear that I got to spend some time with Caleb. He is not going to be happy when I tell him what happened with Dr. Marshall.

"We have a train to catch," I remind him.

I surprise my brother with a hug, which he returns awkwardly. Eric nods at Caleb and we make our way to the elevator. We're quiet at first.

"Did Emma warm up to you?" I ask, squeezing Eric's hand.

His face lights up. "She did. It took a little while, but then we couldn't get her to shut up."

"Spoken like a true brother," I tease. "I suppose since she was so young when you left, you must feel like a stranger now. Plus you're kind of intimidating with all that muscle and ink."

"Are you intimidated by me, Miss Prior?" he asks, stepping close.

"Not at all," I reply, looking up into his steel-grey eyes. "I know you're really a teddy bear. Besides, I was well trained."

Eric tips his chin down and gives me a chaste peck on the lips as the elevator dings and the doors open.

We walk hand-in-hand to the train tracks and wait in silence for it to arrive. I need to get Eric away from Erudite before I tell him what happened or he might go back in there to finish off Dr. Marshall himself.

When the train arrives we jog beside it, then propel ourselves into a car. I join hands with Eric, and he raises my hand to kiss my knuckles. Stopping suddenly, Eric stares at my hand and asks, "Tris, why is there blood under your fingernails?"


	15. Chapter 15: Retakes

"Promise you won't do anything rash," I caution my boyfriend.

"Damn it!" he yells, dropping my hands. "I knew I shouldn't leave you alone with that jerk."

"I'm okay," I soothe.

Eric drops to the floor of the train car, pulling me onto his lap.

"Tell me what happened," he says mournfully, burying his face in my shoulder.

I tell him the whole story, how the Erudite leader separated me from my brother, about lunch, Dr. Marshall's comment about my backside, and his suggestion that he would give us access to an aptitude testing computer in exchange for sex.

Eric growls - a deep, angry, mournful noise that breaks my heart. "I'm so sorry, Tris," he breathes, nuzzling into my neck. "I should have insisted on staying with you."

"Eric," I say cautiously, "remember what I said about being well-trained?"

Eric nods against my neck.

"I broke his nose."

Eric's head snaps up and he looks at me with shock.

"For real? You broke his nose?"

"Yeah," I confess. "I think it's pretty bad. There was a loud crunch and a lot of blood."

"Then what?" he asks. "When I came in you were sitting around chatting with your brother like nothing happened."

"Well, after I broke his nose I told him to never touch me again, then I informed him that he would be sending us an aptitude testing machine for one day so we could find out how effective our training is by comparing aptitudes before and after training. Erudite gets no reports and no information from the tests, and Caleb is to be one of the people delivering it so I can see him again. In exchange, I told him he can make up whatever story he wants about his broken nose, and then I called for Caleb to get help."

Eric pulls back sharply. "You let him get away with that in exchange for a day with the aptitude computer? That's it?"

I shrug, "I got what I wanted, and I don't have to go through another trial. I'm sick of being the victim, Eric. I broke the man's nose; he's been punished."

Eric stands up abruptly, setting me on my feet, then turns his back to me. For a few seconds I just stand there and stare at his tense back. Suddenly Eric roars as he throws a punch at the wall of the train car. The loud bang shakes me to my core. I jump back and begin to tremble. I've never seen Eric this angry. He continues throwing punches at the metal wall, yelling curses and roaring in anger. I back slowly away from him, standing as close to the open door as I safely can.

We're almost to Dauntless, so I decide to get out of there as fast as possible by taking the first exit onto the roof. Without a word to Eric, I leap off the train and cross the roof. He doesn't follow me. I think I surprised him by getting off the train at the roof exit. From here I can take either the door to the stairs or I can jump into the net. The door is locked, so I walk to the ledge and drop into the net. I feel the familiar flip of my stomach as I fall, but there is no joy in the jump today.

I crawl out of the net and leave the room, slinking my way through the compound to the leadership offices. When I arrive, Kyle greets me and asks how my meeting went.

"We need an emergency staff meeting," I say in a small voice. I'm still shaking, and I don't want to talk about what happened. I know Dr. Marshall made a deal with me, but I don't trust him, so our leadership team needs to know the truth.

Alarmed, Kyle grabs his phone handset and begins notifying my fellow leaders. I let myself in to the office wing and head for the small conference room where we hold staff meetings.

Veronica rushes into the room. "Are you okay?" she asks, alarmed.

"I'm fine," I assure her, but I don't lift my gaze from the tabletop.

Harrison walks in behind her. "Where is Eric?" he asks.

"I don't know," I say. "Last time I saw him he was throwing punches at the wall of a train car. He might still be there, or in a training room raging at a heavy bag. We should probably check the infirmary, too."

Harrison nods and quickly leaves. Veronica takes the seat beside me and rubs my back as I drop my head onto my arms and sob. That's how Max finds us a minute later.

He curses loudly. "What happened? Where's Eric?" he yells.

Veronica shushes him as Harrison comes back into the room.

"He's in the infirmary," he informs us. "Nothing is broken, but there's a pretty good cut on his hand, so they're stitching it up."

"Who is in the infirmary?" Max roars. I hear fear in his voice as well as frustration.

I raise my head and look at my boss. "Eric is. He freaked out on the way back from Erudite and started throwing punches at the metal wall of a train car."

"What happened?" Veronica asks softly. "What did Dr. Marshall say that got Eric so riled up?"

"That my ass looks 'spectacular' in these pants," I grumble, "and that he would loan us a testing machine if I had sex with him."

Max jumps to his feet, ready for a fight.

"Woah," says Harrison, putting a hand on Max's shoulder to calm him. "He said that in front of Eric?"

I shake my head. "He separated us. We thought it was okay since my brother would be with me, but then Marshall sent Caleb away, too. I didn't tell Eric about it until we were on the train coming back."

"What about Marshall?" asks Max.

"Um, I kind of broke his nose," I admit.

Harrison laughs and Veronica pulls me into a side hug.

Max sighs wearily, "I'll go call Candor. We're going to need a lawyer."

"Actually, no," I say, reaching out to stop Max from leaving. "I made a deal with him. He doesn't come after me for hurting him, and I won't go after him for harassment. Plus he has to give us an aptitude machine for a day."

"Why do we want an aptitude testing machine?" Veronica asks.

"It was an idea Eric and I had," I use the same story I told in Erudite. "We want to see how effective Dauntless training is by comparing people's aptitudes now to their aptitudes from when they were sixteen. We figure if our training is really effective then those who didn't get an aptitude for Dauntless initially should have one now."

"You let him off the hook for access to an aptitude test machine?" asks Max, looking at me as if I've lost my mind.

I start shaking and crying again.

"That's why Eric freaked out, isn't it?" asks Harrison. All I can do is nod in response.

Max marches out of the meeting room, slamming the door against the wall. Harrison just stands there, dumbfounded.

"I'll go check on Eric," he finally says.

I just want to go home. I'm exhausted from the long and emotionally-draining day, but I'm scared to run into Eric. I know he's angry with me for letting Dr. Marshall get off so easily. I get it. But I don't think he understands how much I want to avoid another trial at Candor and facing the scorn of the Abnegation council, including my own father and Tobias' abuser. I don't need that kind of scrutiny. I handled it. I broke the man's nose for goodness sake. He won't be bothering me again.

I wipe my eyes and ask Veronica if she can walk me home. She agrees, and we get back to my apartment without incident. Eric has a key, so the lock on the door won't keep him away. I slide the chain lock into place and contemplate pushing furniture against it as well. If he's still in a rage like he was on the train and he really wants to get in, the flimsy chain won't put up much of a fight. But I'm too tired, so I just remove my boots and vest and roll up in a blanket on the couch.

I must fall asleep, because the next thing I know I'm waking up to the sound of my door rattling on the chain.

"Tris?" Eric calls through the small opening in the door. "Are you there? Are you okay?"

"Go away, Eric," I groan.

"Please, Baby," he pleads, "talk to me. I'm not angry anymore. I'm not angry with you."

I cross to the door, which is open about two inches, all that the chain will allow. I slide down the wall and sit next to the opening. On the other side of the door Eric sees me through the crack and does the same, leaning on the door and facing me through the small opening. We sit together, the door between us, and for a few minutes we're quiet. Eric's fingers inch through the small opening until they're touching mine, and I don't pull away.

"Did you really break his nose?" he asks.

"Yes," I say quietly. "First I elbowed him in the gut, then when he persisted I slammed the heel of my hand into his nose. It wasn't pretty, but it got my point across."

"I'm really proud of you," he says quietly. "I was so upset at myself for letting that jerk separate us. I feel so stupid for falling for it. Add that to the fact that we were in that position because of me asking around about the testing machine, and I just feel so responsible. I let him hurt you. I let you down, Tris, and I just keep thinking about what could have happened."

"But it didn't," I say. "I defended myself. I didn't let him do anything to me."

"You did," he admits, "but I still think he needs to be held accountable for what he did to you. We can't have guys like that leading our city. He should pay for it and not be in a position where he can hurt anyone else."

"I know," I say, my voice little more than a whisper. "But I can't go through that again. Another trial, another round of being the victim. I can't face my father and Marcus and the rest of the council. I just can't do it!" My voice raises and I'm nearly yelling by the time I finish talking, and I'm crying again. Eric strokes my fingers through the opening in the door as I sob.

"Baby, can I come in?" he pleads.

I hesitate. "You really scared me today," I choke out between sobs. "You lost it on the way home. I thought you were going to hurt yourself, or me, or go back to Erudite and do something you would regret for the rest of your life."

"I would _never_ hurt you," he insists, "no matter how angry I was. I was angry with myself for putting you in that position, and I was angry with Marshall for being an asshole. I was even angry with Four for asking you to get access to the test. I just had to take a swing at something I couldn't hurt before I said something I would regret."

I nudge the door and reach up and slide the chain lock free. The door flies open and Eric tumbles into my apartment. He rights himself and scoots close to me, wrapping me tightly in his arms. He pulls back once my sobs have quieted, and takes my face gently in his hands.

Looking into my eyes, he says, "I love you Tris. I love you so much."

I smile shyly. "I love you too, Eric."

He grins broadly at my words and crashes his lips into mine in a passionate kiss.

.

xxxx

.

Caleb calls the next day to tell us that he and a scientist named Cara will be bringing the test computer on Friday. Cara is Will's sister; we met on visiting day. I call down to the infirmary and get him part of the day off on Friday so he can see her.

Eric and I start pouring over the recent aptitude test results of our members. We're looking for people who got a result other than Dauntless but chose the faction anyway. There are surprisingly few. Al, Myra, and I were the only ones in my initiate class. My result was manually entered as Abnegation, Al tested Amity, and Myra tested Erudite, her home faction. I know she chose Dauntless to be with Edward, but I wonder what made Al choose Dauntless when that so clearly wasn't his aptitude.

I look at Tiffany's class and see her Dauntless score among the majority who got that result. One Candor transfer, a boy named Carl, chose Dauntless in spite of his Candor result. Eric's class yields only Tobias, who got Abnegation because Marcus taught him to manipulate the test. We go back through five years of initiate groups and end up with eight candidates for testing. Al is dead, Myra is factionless, and we know that I'm a strongly simulation resistant divergent, so that leaves us with five people to test. Eric contacts them and their employers and arranges a time when they can take the test on Friday.

On Thursday Eric knocks on my office door.

"I was just looking at the files of our testing candidates," he says, "and I noticed something interesting. With the exception of you and Four, who are probably both divergent, everyone who chose Dauntless in spite of testing for another faction ranked really low in initiation. I realized it because I had to get most of them off guard duty at the fence to come in for testing."

"That's not surprising, I guess," I reply. "Not having an aptitude for Dauntless doesn't exactly set you up for success in initiation. They probably had more fears and had to catch up physically, too."

"What time is Caleb coming with the machine tomorrow?" I ask.

"Nine AM," he replies. "I scheduled Four to go first. I figured after that Cara and I can run the other tests and you can have the morning with your brother."

"Thanks!" I say. "I got Will some time off, too. Cara is his sister. I thought he might like to have lunch with her or something."

"You're the best!" he calls as he ducks out of my office.

.

xxxx

.

Promptly at nine AM on Friday, I'm waiting at the entrance to Dauntless with Eric at my side. A blue van pulls up to the curb, and Caleb exits.

"Beatrice!" he calls, waving. I roll my eyes and wave back.

Cara gets out of the van as well, and they open a cargo door in the back.

"Come on, _Beatrice_ ," says Eric, nudging me with his hip, "let's help the noses with their computer."

We help Caleb and Cara bring the equipment into the compound and set it up in Eric's office. Tobias and Tiffany are waiting at reception when we arrive. She chats with Kyle while he paces nervously. I let the two Erudite members and my ex-Erudite boyfriend play with the tech while I stay in the lobby with my friends.

Tiffany gives me a big hug. "Thank you so much for doing this," she says in a low voice. "I can't tell you how nervous and excited Tobias is about getting this experience."

"It's my pleasure," I say in the same low tone. "That monster took too much from him. Even though his results can't change anything, I'm still glad we can give something back to him."

She nods, and I see that her eyes are shiny with unshed tears. Kyle's phone buzzes and he picks it up with the unprofessional greeting "what's up, Sexy?" Tiffany gives me a quizzical look, and I can't help but laugh. Kyle and Eric are constantly picking on one another. I have no doubt that's who is on the other end of the line.

"Boss man says you should go in," Kyle announces flippantly as he hangs up the phone.

I laugh again and lead my friends back to Eric's office. The room is full with Eric, the two Erudite visitors and their computer equipment, plus Max, Harrison, and Veronica. Four, Tiffany, and I bring the crowd to eight people. It's a tight fit.

"We're going to do a test runthrough to see that everything's alright," says Eric. "I'll be the guinea pig for this first one, then you can all clear out and Cara and I can run the test on everyone as they come in."

He takes a seat on the chair beside the computer, and Cara attaches two electrodes to his head while he drinks the simulation serum. A few clicks later, Eric's eyes flutter closed. He's still for a couple minutes while Cara clicks this and that on the computer. Suddenly Eric wakes with a small gasp. He shakes off the simulation fog as he removes the electrodes from his head and sterilizes them for the next test subject.

"The simulation is different than the one I saw when I was sixteen," says Eric.

"We change it every year," says Cara. "That way older siblings and parents can't tell the dependents what to expect."

"How did I do?" Eric asks.

"Ninety percent Dauntless, ten percent Erudite," Cara replies matter-of-factly.

"Wait, what?" says Eric. "Am I divergent?"

"Oh no," says Cara. "Ten percent is well within normal range. The test is more sophisticated than it used to be, so we can get the subtle things we used to miss."

Everyone is impressed with this improvement. It makes me wonder what my exact percentages are, and I imagine everyone in the room is thinking the same.

"Let's clear out so Eric and Cara can start the tests," says Max. The leaders leave the room, and I guide Tiffany and Caleb back to my office.

"I thought I was here to help," says Caleb.

"I asked for you to come along so we could spend the day together," I say. "Cara and Eric can run the test just fine on their own. I want to show you around Dauntless. Maybe we can get you a tattoo or a piercing," I tease.

"I don't think that's a good idea," says Caleb flatly, making Tiffany laugh.

"I'm teasing you," I say, rolling my eyes at my brother. "No tattoos, I promise. I'm just going to show you around a bit, so you'll know what my life is like here."

He nods. At the same time there is a tap on my open office door.

"Tiff?" says Tobias from the doorway. "I'm done." He's beaming. How much it means for him to get this back and know where he belongs is written plainly across his face.

"How did it go?" I ask as he hugs his girlfriend.

"Sixty-five, thirty-five," he says.

"You're divergent?" Caleb asks, astounded.

"So am I, Caleb," I say.

"What was your aptitude?" he asks, always gathering information for that computer brain of his.

"Dauntless, Erudite, and Abnegation," I say, "though I don't know the percentages."

"Three!?" asks my brother, dumbfounded. Tobias and Tiffany chuckle.

"Three is unheard of," he says, nearly breathless with discovery. "Is that how you did so well in initiation?"

I try not to be angry about his implication that there needs to be some outside explanation for my success. God forbid I'm just good at something…

"You better be careful, man," says Tobias, "your sister is a fierce fighter." We laugh, and as he and Tiffany leave Tobias offers to buy Eric and I a drink tonight for arranging the testing.

"Yeah, Caleb, why don't we go down to the training room and find a fighting ring. I can show you how I did so well in initiation."

"I don't think that's a good idea," he says.

I roll my eyes again and offer to give him a tour of the compound instead.

The last of the tests is done by noon, so we take Caleb and Cara to the cafeteria for lunch. Will and Christina are waiting for us when we arrive.

"Will," says Cara, pleased to see her little brother. "I was hoping to see you today."

"Tris arranged for me to have some time off," he explains, "she thought it would be nice for us to catch up. I want you to meet my girlfriend, Christina."

"We met on visiting day," Cara reminds him, "though I don't think she was your girlfriend then."

Eric and I take our leave and guide Caleb through the cafeteria. His blue clothing gets a lot of attention in the sea of black, and he looks uncomfortable. He grabs simple food, and Eric mumbles something about "stiffs" and their "lack of taste buds."

We introduce Caleb and Cara to our table of friends and start eating. Caleb, as always, is full of questions.

"Do you have fizzy drinks here?" he asks.

"No," I reply. "I think only Erudite has those."

"We mostly drink alcohol," Uriah exaggerates, teasing.

"Alcohol kills brain cells," Cara says in a humorless tone.

"Is it always this noisy here?" Caleb asks.

"Pretty much," I reply. "You get used to it. It's a lot more lively than Abnegation, that's for sure."

"Funerals are more lively than Stiff-land," Zeke teases, emphasizing his point with a wave of his breadstick.

"How many tattoos do you have?" Caleb continues the grilling.

"Just two," I answer. "The birds on my collarbone represent you, Mom, and Dad, and the life I left behind. The ladders up my arms are leadership marks. That's why Eric has the same ones."

"How many do you have?" he asks Eric.

Eric shrugs and I can't help but smirk. Under his clothes he's more ink than skin.

"They start to blend together," he says noncommittally.

Our friends clamor to show off their tattoos to the visitors who are completely overwhelmed by the noise and chaos. After lunch we help them load the computer back into the Erudite van and say our goodbyes.

.

xxxx

.

I'm running late for our drinks with Tobias and Tiffany. Hopefully Eric is there so they don't think we bailed on them.

I rush into the pit bar and look around for my friends. I see them in a booth along the back wall, so I hurry over.

"Hey guys," I say cheerfully. "Sorry I'm late."

I notice quickly that Eric is tense. Tobias looks completely defeated, and Tiffany has a hand on his shoulder.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Sit down, Baby," says Eric. "Let's get you a drink first."

He waves a server to our table and orders us each a drink. Once they're delivered and we're alone again, I repeat my question.

"What happened?"

"Tris I'm so sorry," says Four. "I had no idea that getting access to the test was going to be so costly for you."

"What are you talking about?" I ask. "That stupid Marshall thing?"

Tobias nods and Tiffany puts a hand over mine. "I can't believe he did that to you," she says sympathetically.

"Eric, what did you tell them?" I ask.

"Just that getting the test was harder that it needed to be because that Erudite prick wanted you to trade sex for access to the equipment."

"Did you also tell them that I broke the bastard's nose?" I ask.

"You did?" Tiffany asks, her eyes lighting up.

"You didn't tell them that part, Eric? Are you trying to make Four feel bad so you're not the only one who feels guilty? I've said this before, and I'll say it again: you did nothing wrong. Asking about the test didn't get me into that mess. You visiting your family didn't do it either. The only one to blame is the asshole who grabbed me. Stop blaming Four! I handled it. It's over!"

I slide my drink in front of Eric and march out of the bar.


	16. Chapter 16: Sting Operation

I march back to my apartment, angry with Eric. I don't know why he told Tobias about my run-in with Dr. Marshall. The only thing that could come of that is to make me look weak and make Tobias feel guilty. I don't know if that's what Eric wanted, but one look at Tobias slumped in the booth shows that's exactly what he got. I'm sick and tired of everyone being all protective of me. I'm tired of being pitied. I'm not a little Abnegation stiff anymore. I can face challenges. I can take care of myself!

I change into lounge pants and a soft tee and dig around in my fridge for a beer. There's a knock on my apartment door, and I expect it to be Eric. Instead I find Tobias standing in the hall, head down and shoulders slumped. I invite him in and offer him a beer. He takes it and sits on my couch, his eyes still trained on the floor.

"I'm sorry, Tris," he says.

"Tobias, please stop apologizing." I snap, harsher than I meant to. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Still," he says, pausing to take a drink of his beer.

I sigh.

"I know it looks like Eric only told us the bad half of the story, Tris, but I swear that's only because you walked in right in the middle of it, and he didn't want to continue in front of the waitress. He actually started the story by mentioning that he was really proud of you. I'm sure if he had a chance to finish it he would have told us everything."

"He's upset with me," I explain, picking at the label on my beer bottle. "He doesn't like that I made a deal with Marshall to get the testing. He wants me to prosecute. But I just can't do it, Tobias. I can't go through another trial. And don't even get me started about facing the council. You know I can't tell my dad what happened, and Marcus will find a way to make me the bad guy. You know how much he ' _respects_ ' women," I say, bitterly sarcastic.

Tobias scoffs. "Especially Dauntless women. When I lived with him, I heard some of his rants about Veronica and the retired leader, Nellie.

I get it, Tris, I really do, and I won't push you to do anything you don't want, but I just want to say one thing. After Peter attacked you, I went along with your decision not to pursue him. But every single day I worried that he was going to hurt someone else. If he had killed someone, or just hurt someone, because we didn't stop him? I couldn't live with myself.

If Marshall attacks another woman, one who can't defend herself, will you be able to live with that?"

He's right, I know. But I don't know if I can do it. Besides, I made a deal with Dr. Marshall, and he followed through on his side of things. I thank Tobias for the advice, and agree to go back to the bar with him to find Eric.

Tiffany and Eric are still sitting in the corner booth when Tobias and I get back to the bar. I slide in next to my boyfriend.

"Sorry," I tell him. "Four told me you weren't done when I showed up. I jumped to conclusions and got angry for no reason."

"It's okay," says Eric, pulling me close to his side. "I'm sorry I told them about it. I wasn't trying to make anyone feel bad."

"I know you don't like the decision I made. The truth is that I'm not confident about it either. That jerk needs to be stopped, but I'm too weak. I can't go through this again. Plus, I made a deal and I need to follow through on that."

Eric nods and kisses me on the forehead.

"You're not weak," he says. "But if he tries anything again you _will_ have to choose between going to court against him or going to court to watch me defend myself after I kill him."

"Deal," I say as I steal Eric's drink.

.

xxxx

.

A week later I'm sitting in my office when Eric comes in.

"Babe?" he says. "I'm going to need you to shut your door and stay in here for a little bit, okay? Dr. Marshall is stopping by soon."

I sigh. "Fine," I agree, "let me know when he's gone."

He gives me a nervous smile, and closes my door on his way out. A minute later there is another knock on the door. I slide open my right-hand desk drawer and rest my hand on the pistol I keep in there.

"Come in," I say tersely.

The door opens and Tobias steps in. I quickly slam the drawer shut.

"I need to hang out in here for a few minutes," he says.

"Did Eric send you to babysit me?" I ask.

"Huh?" asks Tobias, turning from the window in my door. "What did you say?"

"Never mind," I say. "What are you doing here?"

"Eric had me install some cameras in the conference room," he says in a distracted voice, still staring out my window.

If Eric had cameras installed right before Dr. Marshall shows up, he must be hoping to catch him at something. But I'm in here, and he told me to stay here. So who is he using as bait? Veronica? She's a beautiful woman, but Marshall seems more interested in women that are way too young for him. Suddenly all the pieces come together.

"Tiffany!" I exclaim, jumping up from my desk and rushing toward the door. "Tobias, you can't let her do this!"

"Do you think I like this?" he says, grabbing me by the shoulders. "She and Eric cooked up this scheme at the bar the other night, while I was up talking to you."

"Why didn't they tell me?" I ask, hurt at being left out of the loop.

"It's just like the knives, Tris. Eric knew you would try to take Tiffany's place if you knew about it. And that would ruin everything, because he probably wouldn't mess with you after you broke his nose. Now be quiet, Marshall just got here, and Kyle is bringing him down to the conference room."

Tobias stays by the door a minute longer. Once Dr. Marshall is in the conference room with Tiffany, Tobias moves to leave.

"Stay here," he hisses at me.

I sit down, leaning against the wall next to my office door. What if this doesn't work? What if Tiffany isn't his type? What if it does work? What if he touches her? I hope she didn't dress too provocatively, and that she doesn't flirt with him to try and draw him out. The video needs to clearly show that he's an aggressor and she's innocent. I don't want her getting hurt or going through this for nothing.

My mind is whirling and the seconds tick by slowly. This is taking too long. Something went wrong.

I hear a muffled cry from down the hall, then a scuffle. I run to my office door and peek out, but I'm too short to see much, and the angle is bad anyway. I can't tell what's going on. After a few minutes it gets quiet, and I wonder if I can leave.

Tiffany's face appears at my door, and I throw it open. "Are you okay?" I ask, breathless.

"Tobias told you? He wasn't supposed to."

"I figured it out," I explain. "I can't believe Eric put you through that. Did Marshall hurt you?"

"Eric nothing," says the redhead, her eyes flashing fire. "This was my idea. I convinced him that I would be perfectly safe with him and Tobias out in the hall, and I reminded him that it's for the greater good."

"Where are they now?"

"They arrested the creep and took him down to the security lockup."

"So it worked? And you're okay?" I ask, looking her over for any signs of harm.

"Tris, I'm fine," she insists. "But that guy is nuts! Kyle let him in the conference room and told him Eric was going to be late. I was in there pretending to do some filing in those big cabinets along the back wall. Immediately I could feel his creepy stare, but I kept ignoring him. Then he got up and walked toward me. He started talking about how Dauntless has such pretty girls, and how he heard we're more 'adventurous' than the girls in other factions. I told him he was making me uncomfortable, but he just laughed and told me not to act coy with him. Then he reached out and patted my butt while asking me if the carpet matches the drapes."

I shudder. "Then what happened?" I ask, tense.

Tiffany grins. "Then I rebroke his nose," she says triumphantly.

"For real?" I ask, proud of my friend.

"Yup," she says. "Then I called Tobias and Eric, and they stormed in from the hallway and arrested him. We did it, Tris, we got him."

My office door bursts open and Tobias rushes in, grabbing Tiffany in a fierce hug.

"Are you okay?" he asks breathlessly.

"I'm fine," she assures him.

"You were so awesome," he says proudly.

Eric walks in and approaches me cautiously. "Are you angry?" he asks.

"Yes and no," I reply, reaching out for him. He wraps his arms around me tenderly and sighs, relieved that I'm not pushing him away. "I don't like that you let Tiffany put herself in danger like that, or that you kept secrets from me. But I get it. And Dr. Marshall is locked up like he should be."

"Jack is on his way over from Candor," Eric informs us. "Four, we need to get that video footage ready. Tiffany, you need to fill out a report. Tris can help you. She had to do one for Peter."

Tiffany and I sit down at my desk and work together to fill out the report. Eric takes it to the security office on his way to meet Jack Kang and his assistant, Vanessa, at the entrance to the compound. Soon we are sitting in a room with Kang, Vanessa, and the other Dauntless leaders, who have no idea what's going on.

Eric plays the footage for us. We see Tiffany, in her conservative but attractive skirt and top, filing papers into the cabinets on the far wall. She looks up as Kyle opens the door.

"Eric is running late," Kyle informs Dr. Marshall. "It will be a few minutes. Tiffany, you can keep working on that until Eric comes in."

"Sure, Kyle," she replies.

"Thank you," says Marshall in a condescending tone, his eyes already glued on Tiffany.

Tiffany continues putting papers into their proper place in the cabinets, while Dr. Marshall openly stares at her. Just as Tiffany described in my office, he gets up and walks close to her, making his lewd observation about Dauntless women and our reputation for being 'adventurous.'

I see the fire in Tiffany's eyes as she steps away and tells him that he's making her uncomfortable, and the predatory gleam in his eyes as he reaches out to touch her backside. He makes his crude comment about the carpet matching the drapes, and I see Tobias tense as he watches the video.

In the video, Tiffany turns suddenly and throws a sharp right hook, catching Dr. Marshall in his still-bandaged nose. Everyone watching flinches at the sickening crunch. Then Tiffany calls for Four and Eric, and the two men storm in. Video Eric has a gun in his hand, which he quickly holsters after finding Dr. Marshall bleeding on the ground. Video Tobias looks ready to kill. He rushes to Tiffany and asks her if she's okay while Eric puts zip cuffs on the bleeding man.

Eric and Tobias leave the frame, practically dragging the bleeding and handcuffed Erudite leader. Tiffany, alone in the room, takes a deep breath and shakes out her arms, flexing and releasing the hand with which she punched her attacker. As she walks out of the frame, Eric reaches up and shuts off the video.

He slides a copy of Tiffany's report across the table to the Candor leader, who begins reading it.

"I have some questions," says Max.

Eric gives him a glare that clearly says, "not now," but our boss is unfazed.

"Why was she here doing filing? That's Kyle's job." Max asks.

"Tiffany is a friend of ours," says Eric. "I knew she was off work today, so I asked her if she could come in and get the filing caught up. It's hard for Kyle to work in the conference room and hear the phone at the front desk."

I'm impressed with his ability to tell Max this story. Clearly he put a lot of thought into it. Even the Candor leader doesn't catch the partial lie.

"And what was Dr. Marshall doing here?" asks Max. "I didn't know you had a meeting scheduled with him."

"It was kind of last minute," says Eric. "I wanted to talk to him about the testing we did last week, and we both happened to be available today."

"You knew she was in there, and you knew he was coming, and you left them alone together?" asks Max, clearly agitated.

"Why wouldn't he leave a member alone with Dr. Marshall?" asks Kang, his gaze snapping up from the report in his hands.

I speak up. "Dr. Marshall has a record of unwanted advances against Dauntless women. We have an unofficial policy that he is not to be left alone with a Dauntless female."

"A history of sexual harassment? Why haven't I heard about this?" asks Jack, clearly alarmed.

"He hasn't been that aggressive before," I lie, "just uncomfortable."

Kang buys my lie, but Vanessa eyes me shrewdly. She clearly doesn't believe me, but she doesn't ask any follow-up questions.

Kang, Max, and Eric leave to question Dr. Marshall and prepare him to be moved to Candor. Vanessa stays behind to interview Tiffany. She allows Tobias to stay in the room during the interview. Veronica, Harrison, and I take our leave.

I walk back into my office and Veronica follows. She closes the door behind us and asks in a low voice, "it was a setup, wasn't it?"

I nod. "I didn't know about it until it was going on. Apparently it was Tiffany's idea. She and Eric planned it, and Four was brought in to install the cameras at the last minute."

"Yeah, I can't see him being in favor of a plan that puts his girlfriend in that position," Veronica replies. "But I think it's good. No one got hurt, and that creep got busted. Win-win."

I agree, and Veronica leaves my office.

I try to drown myself in paperwork for the afternoon so I won't have to think about what's going on with Dr. Marshall. After interviewing Tiffany, Vanessa joined the men in the security lockup and then Max and Eric went with Kang and his assistant to escort Dr. Marshall to Candor. It's a long afternoon waiting to see Eric again and hear about the aftermath of the arrest.

At six I give up and stop by the cafeteria for a meal to go. I take it back to my apartment and nibble on my tacos while I wait for Eric.

He knocks before letting himself in around seven PM. I jump off the couch, but he waves me back to my seat and joins me there. He's smiling broadly, which I hope is a sign that things went well.

Eric reaches out to the tray on my coffee table and snatches one of my tacos. Taking a bite, he says around a mouthful, "We did it. The bastard pled guilty."

I'm stunned. An ego like Marshall's doesn't give in easily.

"We took him to Candor, showed him the video and the incident report, and threatened a public trial under truth serum. He folded immediately and agreed to plead guilty to avoid a trial. I have a feeling that Tiffany wouldn't be the only one to testify against him. He seemed pretty scared of what would come out of a trial.

He's being stripped of his leadership role, and he'll serve a few months in Candor jail before they release him to Erudite with a tracking monitor. He can never set foot in Dauntless again or have contact with Dauntless members doing business at Erudite, plus Erudite can impose their own conditions when he gets out of jail."

"Really?" I'm incredulous. "That's it? No trial? No council? Nothing?"

"By pleading guilty he automatically loses his title," confirms Eric. "The council will just have to validate it."

"I can't believe it's over," I muse. "Who will lead Erudite now?"

"I don't know yet," says Eric, "but there will probably be another truth serum confirmation hearing. We need to get a good leader in there who didn't work with Jeanine and won't turn out like Marshall."

I agree and snuggle in to my boyfriend's side, content that this is behind us.


	17. Chapter 17: Candor or Dauntless

Christina finally talked me into hosting a Candor or Dauntless party at my apartment. Eric swears it will be fine, but I warned Veronica and Harrison anyway. They both laughed and started telling stories about when they played as young people. I got some good ideas for dares!

My apartment has never been this full before. Christina and Will are here, as well as Tobias, Tiffany, Zeke, Uriah, and Lynn. Even Shauna and Marlene have a weekend off from guard duty at the wall, so with Eric and I hosting it brings the count to eleven people in my little living room.

Being the hostess, it's my duty to go over the rules again. Obviously we've all played together many times, but Zeke insists that if we don't go over the rules each time someone will try to weasel out of a dare.

"I want to pick who goes first!" yells Uriah. "I have a great idea! I want the person with the most piercings."

"I'm out," says Tobias, "I don't have any."

"I'm out too," says Will, "I just have the one in my ear."

"I have four!" yells Uriah with his usual glee.

"Me too," say Marlene, Shauna, and Tiffany.

"I only have three, so you already have me beat," says Zeke. "But I see more than that on Eric's face. How many do you have, anyway?"

Eric thinks for a minute. "Eleven," he says.

"I think we have our winner," says Uriah.

"Yup," I interject, "me. I have thirteen. Nobody can beat that?"

Everyone shakes their heads, so I start looking for my first victim.

"Wait a minute," says Uriah, "I only see five. No wait, six with the tongue ring."

"Plus six dermals in my leadership tattoo," I explain.

"Oh yeah," he says. "But that's still only twelve."

"Yup. But I have thirteen."

"Well, where is the thirteenth?" he presses.

"None of your business," I state, making our friends hoot and holler as I blush.

Christina catches my attention from across the circle. She gestures to her lap and makes a questioning face. I shake my head, no. She points to her chest and I shrug noncommittally. She grins broadly at my virtual admission.

For that I decide to start with her. "Christina," I ask, "Candor or Dauntless?"

"Candor," she says confidently.

"Pansycake!" yells Uriah, making us all groan.

"What is it like when Candor parents teach their kids about sex?" I ask.

"Oh my god!" she yells. "It is _so_ embarrassing. Thankfully just my mom talked to me, and not my dad, but she was still waaaaay too open about it. I got all kinds of advice about birth control and even positions! I kept telling her to shut up, but she just kept yammering!"

Will laughs. "Erudite parents are very clinical. Mine gave me a book. I was still embarrassed, but at least I didn't have to hear about their sex life!"

"Abnegation parents don't talk about it until the day before their kids get married," I say, "so I never heard the talk."

"Do we need to teach you about the birds and bees?" asks Uriah.

"Oh, I've educated her pretty well on that," says Eric, making me blush.

"My turn," Christina reminds us. "Uriah, Candor or Dauntless?"

"Dauntless, of course!"

"I knew you would say that. I dare you to give me twenty points so I can go buy you a bottle of some really nasty liquor, and you have to take a shot every time you say 'pansycake' for the rest of the game."

Our friends all cheer the dare.

"Fine," says Uri, pulling a twenty out of his wallet.

"I know just the thing," says Zeke. "Come with me."

They rush out of the apartment, and the rest of us take the opportunity to get some snacks and catch up on our jobs and lives. Marlene is in the middle of a funny story about a coworker who nearly fell off the wall from laughing too hard when Zeke and Chris return.

"Voila!" she says, handing Uriah a bottle.

"Ugh, no!" he says, "not the cinnamon stuff!"

Christina laughs. "We hardly went through any of it last time we played, so Zeke donated it to the cause, and I get to keep your twenty points!"

"At least it's my turn," grumbles Uriah.

"Tris," he says with an evil smirk. "Candor or Dauntless?"

"Candor," I say.

He bites back the habitual response with a pout. "Fine. Where is your thirteenth piercing?"

"None of your business," I say, removing my sweatshirt.

The penalty shot tonight is a peppermint schnapps that smells really potent. I cringe as I pour myself a shot and toss it back.

Eric leans close to my ear. "Lucky thirteen is just for me," he growls, making me swallow hard. I give him a chaste peck on the lips. "Mmmm, minty fresh," he teases.

"Shauna," I call, "Candor or Dauntless?"

"Dauntless," says Shauna.

"How about a tattoo show and tell?" I suggest.

She shrugs and climbs off Zeke's lap. "I only have three," she says.

She turns her back to the group and lifts her shirt a few inches, revealing the outline of Chicago's city skyline.

"That's really pretty," I say.

Shauna drops her shirt and faces us. She pulls her sleeve back to reveal the butterfly on her left wrist. "This was my first one," she says.

Next she lifts the cuff of her jeans to reveal a bracelet of stars tattooed around her ankle. Then she adjusts her clothing back into place and takes her seat on Zeke's lap.

"Four," she says, "Candor or Dauntless?"

"Candor," he says, and everyone looks at Uriah to see if he'll slip up. He doesn't.

"I know it's cliche," says Shauna, "but I'm going to ask the same question we always ask. What is your real name?"

"Tobias," he answers easily, as if she had just asked him what color the sky is instead of asking him to reveal his long-held biggest secret.

Everyone is stunned into silence. It's obvious they never expected him to give in. Tiffany and I grin at him proudly.

"Why have you always refused to tell us?" asks Lynn.

"My name is Tobias Eaton," he says. "My father is Marcus Eaton, the head of the Abnegation council. He abused me my whole life until I chose Dauntless to get away from him."

"Woah," says Uriah.

"Yeah, woah," agrees Zeke.

"So you're a stiff?" asks Lynn.

Tobias smiles at her. "No, I'm a divergent with sixty-five percent Dauntless and thirty-five percent Abnegation aptitude."

"Dude!" says Uriah. "My aptitudes are Dauntless and Amity, but I don't know the percentages."

"That's new this year," I explain. "Four took the test recently as part of some research Eric and I were doing. Eric took it too. He's ninety percent Dauntless and ten percent Erudite, which isn't divergent. Apparently you have to be at least twenty percent something else to be divergent.

"You're divergent?" Shauna asks Uriah, thoroughly shocked by the revelations. "Both of you?"

"And me," I add. "I didn't take the new test, so I don't know my percentages, but I'm Dauntless, Erudite, and Abnegation."

"Three?" asks Will. "Is that possible?"

"She's the only one I've ever heard of," says Eric, proudly.

"Whose turn is it?" I ask to redirect the conversation away from me.

"Mine," says Tobias. "Tiffany, Candor or Dauntless."

"Well, I'm not divergent like you," she says, "I'm all Dauntless as far as I know, so I'll take the dare."

Tobias looks at me, panic on his face. I smile and nod encouragingly. He stands to his feet, digs for something in his pocket, and gets down on one knee in front of the beautiful redhead.

"Tiffany," he says, his voice shaking a little, "I love you. I dare you to marry me."

Tiffany gasps and covers her face with her hands. I lean in to Eric's side, and he puts an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close.

"Yes!" she says as tears stream down her cheeks. "Toby! Yes, I _will_ marry you!"

Our friends clap and shout, then Zeke jumps out of his chair, nearly dumping Shauna on her backside, and throws his arms around Tobias.

"Oh _Toby_ ," he says, "I'm so happy for you!"

Tiffany blushes deeply, and Tobias growls at his friend, "If you ever call me Toby again I will dangle you from the chasm. Only Tiff can call me that."

Zeke drops his arms from Tobias and wraps them around Tiffany instead. "Protect me!" he says in a voice of mock fear that makes us all laugh.

Suddenly we're all hugging, and a few of us get a little teary-eyed. I slip out to the kitchen and pull three bottles of champagne out of my fridge. I get everyone's attention by loudly popping the cork on the first bottle.

"Trissy!" Uriah says accusingly, "you knew!"

I shrug. "I may have helped Four pick the ring, and he dropped off the champagne earlier today so it could chill."

The game is over after that, but we stay at my apartment talking and sipping champagne until the early hours of the morning.

.

xxxx

.

 **Ta da! The End. I always wanted Tobias to open up and share his real name in a canon-compliant (or canon-adjacent) fic. I think a game of Candor or Dauntless is the perfect way to do it.**

 **That's all for Emergent, but if you enjoy my writing, please check out my other stories. I have one-shots on how Tobias feels about being called a 'Dauntless Prodigy,' Al's thoughts as he ended his life, a songfic inspired by P!nk's U+UR Hand, and a crossover where Divergent characters live out The Breakfast Club. I also have longer fics in both the Divergent and Hunger Games universes, including some game-based fics where the Divergent characters play _Would You Rather?_ , a five-factions version of _Candor or Dauntless_ , and _Never Have I Ever_.**

 **Special thanks to everyone who read, followed, favorited, and reviewed this story. It's fun to hear from you!**

 **Xoxo,**  
 **Libby**


	18. Prequel - Hero of Chicago available now

The first chapter to the prequel is up! It's called Hero of Chicago, and it follows Eric as he goes from working for Jeanine to taking her down. How did Eric get involved with Jeanine, and why did he help her? What makes him change his mind? Who can be trusted? And what happens when Eric finds out about Jeanine's secret lab?

xoxo,  
Libby


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